Research
by LadyAlena1008
Summary: Castle believes in thorough research; Beckett isn't cooperating. He knows it's silly, but it's just another piece of the Beckett puzzle. When it finally falls into place, luck happens to take over and leads them in an unexpected direction.
1. Chapter 1

_Hello, all! I recently posted my first story after several years away. This one was actually started first, but life has done a great deal of interfering so it was put on my back burner for a while. Thank you so much to everyone who read my last, and for all who reviewed: you made my day! I understand why so many writers say reviews are like crack :) And they made a tough couple of weeks a little less harrowing._

_Disclaimers: I do not own these characters. I do wish I did. Any familiar to you are therefore not mine; they belong to ABC. The story idea is my own, I am just borrowing the characters and using creative license to play with them. I promise I will put them back when I am done. No profit is being made from this story, it's just for fun._

_Author's notes: This takes place a short time after __**Poof, You're Dead**__. I have chosen to ignore Dr. Motorcycle Boy, implying that he and Beckett have gone their separate ways since the episode. Especially after __**Countdown**__; I mean really, could he have had worse timing? Talk about ruining the moment, geez! Anyway…_

_Kind of a PWP, this does have a premise that is entirely silly. __It served to create a scene in my mind inspired by the preview of__** Knockdown**__. This had no beta and while I usually have a good eye, I did a lot of transferring between media types so any mistakes are my own._

_Enjoy!_

_

* * *

_

"No."

"Come on, Beckett." The teasing tone followed her from the break room as she took a seat at her desk.

"No, Castle."

"That's not fair! We told you ours!"

"Yeah, well, leave it to you three to bring up something like who is ticklish where. I didn't ask you to share."

"But we did. We had our own little affinity circle going. Except when the conch shell made it to you, you dropped it."

"As much as I appreciate your _Lord of the Flies_ reference there, Castle, one more word out of you and so help me I will hunt down a roll of duct tape. Trust me; I know how to use it so you _won't_ be able to escape."

"My dear Detective Beckett I do believe I have struck a nerve. This certainly bears more investigation from yours truly. I am, after all, a best-selling novelist devoted to researching my characters to the fullest. "

He turned an impish smirk on her that crinkled the corners of his eyes, something Beckett normally found endearing. Now however, she wanted to see that smile disappear from his face and hopefully take his current train of thought with it. She stared at him for a moment before arching an eyebrow and standing. Striding past him to the desk where the fax and printer sat, she began hunting through the cabinets. Emerging with her prize and a wicked smile on her face, she came back to where Castle sat with his back to her. Quietly leaning over his shoulder, she slapped the heavy roll of tape onto the corner of her desk. His slight jump satisfied her immensely. She angled her head to speak in his ear in her best interrogation growl. "Let this serve as a reminder Castle. Ask me about it again and I will wrap you up like a mummy and stuff you in a locker."

Castle's eyes widened as he turned to look at Beckett. He opened his mouth and inhaled a bit as if he were going to speak, then seemed to think better of it. Eyes darting between the tape and the Detective who looked entirely too pleased with his discomfort, he mimed zipping his lips, locking them, and throwing away the key. Beckett squinted at him slightly before returning to her side of the desk.

Precinct bustle continued around the silent pair, one reveling in the quiet, and the other contemplating the best way to break it. "You know as far as threats go, I don't know if that was the best I've received from you. But the delivery made it incredibly intimidating."

_Almost 20 seconds. Must be a record._ Choosing not to verbalize that thought, she instead quipped "I practice on suspects so I'm always prepared to intimidate the famous authors in my life with duct tape, Castle."

"Ha! They wouldn't stand a chance."

"Think you would, huh?"

"If ever the time comes I deserve the treatment, we will see who comes out the victor."

"You do deserve it."

"And yet here I sit, unbound. What's wrong, Detective? Afraid you've met your match?" The last was said with his voice lowered as he leaned into her personal space.

She matched him in posture and tone. "Point them out and I'll let you know."

"You wound me. I don't know how I'll ever recover." His false pout didn't last long, and he snapped his fingers. "Hey! I know how you can make it up to me." He waggled his eyebrows at her with an expectant look on his face.

Beckett stared into space somewhere above her computer screen, then reached out her left arm. She snagged the tape and a pair of scissors with her other hand, holding them up directly under Castle's nose. "Go ahead and say it. I'm sure someone around here has a birthday coming up, and you just volunteered to be the piñata."

"You didn't really expect me to not give it one more shot did you? Can't blame me for trying."

"Actually, I can."

"There's no tripping you into talking; I guess I should know by now." His overly dramatic wistful sigh almost teased a smile onto Beckett's lips.

"So that means you agree to the terms? No more asking me any questions about it?"

"I don't recall there being any 'terms'-"

"Castle!"

"-but yes, I promise I won't ask you about it anymore."

"Thank you."

"Just for future reference do you mean I can't ask you now or ever?"

Beckett paused and slowly raised her head. "I'm really leaning towards never."

Castle raised his hands in surrender while Beckett returned to her paperwork. She wasn't upset with him—he knew her well enough to be aware that this was all still banter for her. It didn't mean that he would push the issue past 'pulling her pigtails' as she had once observed.

A thought struck him and he pulled out his phone. Scrolling down his contacts list, he got to the L's and started a new text. Firing off a message as quickly as he could on his touch screen, he smirked slightly. She said he couldn't ask _her_. She didn't say anything about not asking her best friend.

* * *

Out of the corner of her eye, Beckett saw Castle pull out his phone and smirk as if he was sharing a private joke with himself. Prepared to ignore it, she looked away. A thought struck her though and she raised her head to stare at him. With her eyes full of suspicion, she asked the question she wasn't sure she wanted the answer to. "Castle, who did you just text?"

He glanced at her with his eyebrows raised, not acting startled in the least.

"Why would you think I was texting someone?"

Beckett leaned forward on her forearms, prepared for the sparring session. "I asked my question first."

Raising his eyebrows and smiling at the playground answer, Castle simply shrugged as if to say nobody in particular. He flashed his phone screen towards her to show her the game he was playing. "Just playing the new version. Got it yesterday because a buddy who works with Apple figured I could check it for any bugs. You know, just to make sure it works before next month's release." he grinned at her again, trying to disarm her. The recipient of his text chose that moment to reply and his phone chimed. With a slight exclamation of excitement he quickly turned the phone back around-hopefully before Beckett saw who the message was from.

He wasn't lying—he was playing a game—but he hadn't exactly told the whole truth.

_**Come c me in a few **_

He read the text and a Cheshire cat grin threatened to split his cheeks. His phone chimed again.

_**I'll tell u if u promise 2 use it well.**_

He bit down on his knuckles then clapped a hand to his mouth and exhaled sharply. His eyes were practically glowing with delight over whatever he had seen.

Beckett watched the whole thing in a state of slight shock. The swift changes in Castle's expressions would have been comical if not for the uneasy feeling that was tapping at the back of her consciousness. The last look had her caving. "What are you doing over there?"

Leaning in closer, Castle beckoned Beckett forward. As she leaned in, he lowered his voice conspiratorially and uttered one word. "Research."

He departed quickly calling "Be right back!" over his shoulder while making a beeline for the elevators. Beckett's mouth opened to utter several monosyllabic attempts at a question before she blew out a frustrated breath through her cheeks and turned back to her monitor. Clenching her jaw and pursing her lips she leveled a glare at the closing elevator doors. Too bad it didn't have any effect.

* * *

Castle practically skipped with glee as he breezed into the morgue. Glancing around, he saw Dr. Lanie Parish going through and cleaning some of her instruments. A bit of what looked a lot like snot was globbed on a tray next to the M.E. He wrinkled his nose slightly but reached out a hand towards it. Without looking at him, Lanie smacked the back of his hand and he recoiled instantly. "You really are like a 9-year-old." The bored tone of her voice was one Castle had heard many times. He looked at her questioningly, indicating the goo with a nod of his head. She dead-panned a look at him. "Do you really want to know?" Frowning once more, a shake of the head was the only answer she got. "Don't worry Writer-Boy; it's just some stuff I use to clean off the smaller tools. It gets into the grooves better."

"Oh. Well that's not so bad. I thought it was autopsy leftovers."

"And yet, you were still going to touch it." Rolling her eyes, Lanie muttered "_Boys_" under her breath. "Alright, here's the deal. I said I would tell you and I will. Question: is this a result of the conversation you boys had yesterday?"

"How did you know about that?" Castle asked innocently, knowing full-well it likely came from pillow talk between she and her not-very-secret, secret lover.

Lanie tried to backpedal. "Never you mind, I'm the one with the information you want. Now are you gonna tell me what this is all about, or what?"

Pinning her with a knowing look, Castle watched her play with some of her tools nervously before he finally relented and moved on. He didn't miss her relieved exhale. "Yes, it is from that talk as a matter of fact. We were calling out random questions; you know, strangest place we've been hit on, strangest place we've hit on someone, scars, then weird ticklish spots—Ryan's is _great_, by the way—and Beckett wouldn't share so we tried to get it out of her."

"And how did that go for you?" the sarcastic comment earned a look, to which her eyebrows simply raised in a 'what?' response.

"It didn't. We couldn't get anything! So, I tried to convince her it was very important that I know."

"What did you end up telling her?" Lanie asked, intrigued

"Do you want the full truth or the truth I gave her? Well, it really is the truth, but it's only a half-truth so she wouldn't know the real reason." This was rattled off in typical Castle train of thought fashion, and Lanie just waited until he got the rest out of his system. Somewhere in all of it might be the explanation she was waiting for. Or not. Belatedly, she realized he had stopped speaking and was looking at her expectantly.

"Try again, Writer-Boy, spit it out this time."

"I told Beckett it was because I like knowing my characters inside and out. Not just their thoughts and what makes them tick, but also the little things: their quirks, their habits, and what makes them 'tic'." Lanie was merely looking at him thoughtfully so he continued. "Well I'm sure you can imagine she didn't go for that. She really didn't seem to get why I thought knowing where she is ticklish could possibly be pertinent to knowing Nikki Heat. She actually threatened me with duct tape to get me to stop asking."

His pout was such an act that it had Lanie shaking her head in response. "Clearly you didn't take her very seriously."

"Oh, on the contrary, I took her very seriously. She said I couldn't ask her, which is why I came to you." The contents of a shelf drew his attention and he began fiddling with the various containers.

The charming smile tossed over his shoulder drew out one of her own, succeeding in melting her last remaining reservations into a puddle of goo. "She is most definitely ticklish, which is why she refused to tell any of you. I'll tell you one, but the rest you better figure out on your own."

Caught off-guard, Castle almost dropped the jar of swabs he was holding. He fumbled before recovering and placing it back on the shelf it came from. He nudged it once more for good measure before facing Lanie again with what almost passed as a neutral expression.

"I know your 'research' excuse is bull. Come on, spill: why exactly do you want to know?"

Castle feigned shock. "Attention to detail is a painstaking but vital process to creating any written work." He explained. Lanie wasn't biting. "You would make a good Detective, Dr. Parish. Let's just call it curiosity."

"You know curiosity killed the cat."

"Ah, yes, but: Satisfaction brought it back." He spread his hands and looked at her expectantly.

"Touché." She conceded. "Alright, the one that will get you into the least amount of trouble…"

* * *

It was a slow day all around, as a blizzard-like storm had blown in late the night before, forcing either all the would-be murderers or their potential victims to stay put. The precinct wasn't even at its full strength yet as getting to work through treacherous ice and snow was no easy feat for pedestrians or drivers. Of course Beckett had made it; she hadn't missed a day for longer than she cared to admit. A little snow and ice wasn't going to hold her back. Besides, she could always do paperwork and review old cases whose convictions were coming up for appeal. Why Castle came in though, she wasn't sure. He could have stayed in his loft in this admittedly nasty weather, yet he was here. Or was. He had disappeared and had now been gone about 15 minutes. 16 minutes and 23 seconds if she were counting. Which she wasn't.

"Hey, where'd Castle go?" Javier Esposito had arrived not long after Beckett and was also working to get caught up. He and Castle had of course spent time shooting the bull, but it didn't bother her. For all the times the cases ran them ragged, the chance to slow down was a rare opportunity, and unwinding was the key to keeping your sanity in this job.

"Oh he took off a little while ago on some mission." Javier's questioning look mirrored what she was feeling. "Don't ask me what it was but he took off like he had rockets on his shoes. Got in the elevator, but left his coffee so I'm assuming he'll be back."

"Huh." Esposito just shook his head, but kept his eyes on Beckett. She wasn't being obvious about it but her attention was fixed on the elevator. She was doing whatever she could to keep it in her peripheral vision. He chuckled a little as he turned to make his way back to his desk.

"Care to share the joke, Detective Esposito?" Her tone suggested boredom but he knew she was considering the possibility he knew more than he was letting on.

Grinning in response, he spread his hands out and said "More fun than Shark Week."

Beckett simply rolled her eyes at him before changing the subject. "Heard from Ryan yet?"

"He said he was getting Jenny to work a little while ago and having a Hell of a time of it. He's probably getting pretty close now." Almost on cue, the elevator dinged and opened to reveal a miserable looking Kevin Ryan, who had some snow melting down part of his left side. The slight hitch in his step as he made his way to his desk caused raised eyebrows from the two people watching him. He glanced up once he noticed the scrutiny and gingerly sat down at his desk.

Esposito leaned back in his chair and idly played with a pen as he watched his partner. "You alright there, bro?" Ryan glared at him, not for an instant missing the amusement in his voice.

"Yeah, you okay? You look like you had a fight with Frosty the Snowman, though I hope you won." Beckett deadpanned the question and Ryan made a face.

"Ifelloutsidetheprecinct," came the mumbled reply.

"Sorry, didn't catch that?" The barely disguised glee in his partner's voice made his ears redden in embarrassment.

"You know how the door to the building sometimes sticks? I was rushing up and I went to pull it open for someone else but I slipped on the ice. I couldn't hang onto the door because my hands were too cold to feel the stupid bar." he rubbed his leg where he had hit the concrete the hardest. "Pretty sure half the guys from downstairs were right inside and saw the whole thing." Grimacing, he shifted to try and get comfortable.

A uniformed officer arrived and made his way to Ryan's desk. There was a badly wrapped lump in his hands that had some writing scrawled on the brown paper. "This is for Detective Ryan from me and some of the boys. We saw your Disney on Ice routine out there and thought you should have this." He presented the package solemnly before walking away. The echoing laughter that followed him out gave up the ruse.

Ryan looked down cautiously, suspecting he wouldn't like whatever was in the "present". Upon seeing the writing he threw it on his desk with an exclamation of "Come on!" before covering his face with his hands. Esposito got up to look and promptly burst out laughing. He tossed the package to Beckett who caught it easily. When she saw what was written she couldn't help but laugh right along with him. In between bouts of laughter, she said "Directions: apply directly to ass. Then head down to the front desk for a special screening of Security Tapes: Wipeout Edition. From your friends at the desk." She tossed the ice pack back to her detective while internally applauding how quickly the other officers managed to get it to him.

"I didn't land on my ass." A new wave of laughter greeted his comment. "Thanks for your concern guys, it's really very touching."

"Any time, man. We're here for ya." he clapped a hand on Ryan's shoulder before sitting back down. The three Detectives turned to their work, two of them finding it a little less tedious than it had been a short time ago.

* * *

Triumph in the face of Beckett's stonewalling tactics deserved much more flair than a calm walk back into the precinct. Really it was more of a strut, but he had to express himself somehow. Celebrating like a football player who just made the winning touchdown of a big game would surely attract attention, however. _Her_ attention. Which would be a serious problem for him. He would just have to console himself with the victory dance he did in the hall upon leaving Dr. Parish and her knowing smile to finish tidying up. And one more fist pump right before he walked back into the bullpen, causing a passing uniform to look at him a little strangely.

As he turned the corner, he noticed Ryan had finally arrived. "Hey Ryan." A lackluster response was all he got and he stared at the Detective, curious. It was then he noticed the package on his desk. Striding over, he grabbed for it while asking "Ooh, what's this?" He flipped it over, scanning the note, before dropping it as if he had been burned. His scandalized look finally got a smile out of Ryan.

"You should have seen your face, Castle." He laughed lightly. "Don't worry, I haven't used it."

Still a bit wary, Castle picked the ice pack up off of the floor by the corner and dropped it quickly back on the desk. He read the note through again as he sat on the corner next to it. "Why is this instructing you to 'apply it to your ass'?"

The reopening of that rather sensitive subject soured Ryan's mood again. He pursed his lips and continued to stare at the file in his hands, hoping he could fake zoning out. Unfortunately, Esposito ruined his plan. "He fell right outside the front doors. Bunch of uniforms saw him do it too; one of the guys brought that up for him about two minutes after he got here." A baleful look was shot his way, which he completely ignored in favor of sharing the hilarity with Castle.

"Seriously? And they got it on tape? That's fantastic!" Castle practically crowed with delight. "Ooh, can I bring popcorn?"

Ryan's sarcastic laugh was followed by a balled up piece of paper to Castle's temple. Catching it on the bounce, he returned fire and beat a hasty retreat to his seat by Beckett's desk. As he sat down, he felt the paper smack into the back of his head and watched it bounce onto Beckett's keyboard. She glanced up slowly to Ryan, who was quite suddenly immersed in hunting through his desk for something. Her eyes flicked to Castle, who was looking everywhere but at her, then to Esposito who was enjoying the whole thing far too much. Discreetly, she grabbed a piece of paper she had tested her pen on and balled it up. "Hey, Ryan!" As he looked up, he saw the paper come flying his way, but not in time: it hit him squarely in the forehead.

The snickering to her left earned another well-placed shot to the ear with the first ball of paper, followed by an indignant "Hey! What was that for?" Castle rubbed his ear and stared at her in mock outrage.

"Well it bounced off your head, Castle. I think that means I get to fault you for it as well. Like being the last guy to touch the basketball before it goes out-of-bounds: it's all on you." A loud chortle from the vicinity of Esposito's desk drew her attention back, and she watched as the missile she had fired at Ryan was put back into commission. It bounced off Esposito's neck before finally crashing and burning into his coffee. This time it was Ryan's turn to laugh at the disgruntled face of his partner as he fished out the soggy mess. Beckett returned to her work with a quiet snort of amusement.

She kept an eye on Castle as he sat there. He was behaving normally when chatting with the boys or with her. Every once in a while though, she saw a goofy smile form as he stared into space. Then he would catch her staring and goofy would turn into knowing. It irked her, but he wasn't giving anything else away and she didn't want to make a scene trying to get it out of him. It was probably something she didn't need to know; it was Castle she was dealing with, after all.

* * *

Several hours later, after doing their best to plow through the paperwork, the three Detectives and the author were ready to call it quits. Though reluctant to admit it out loud, Beckett credited Castle with the early hour at which they all looked like they would get to go home. He had provided a fresh pair of eyes and a completely different—sometimes utterly ridiculous—take on things. Old cases could be a challenge, with the temptation to skim through everything because you had already seen it before. They all knew how important little details could be when they seemed insignificant at the time, and having someone there who was unfamiliar with the case proved to be immensely helpful in making sure everything was airtight.

The four chattered idly, putting off the trip out into what was sure to be a bitterly cold night. Ryan glanced at his watch, noting he wouldn't have to leave to get Jenny for a good half hour. He was also hoping the uniforms would take off before he did, not wanting to run into any of them for the mocking he was sure to receive, but also because he didn't want any witnesses for a potential repeat performance. Once was more than enough. So he was content to hang out with his colleagues for a while longer. On his left, Esposito reclined in his chair with Castle leaning a hip against his desk, and Beckett perched on the edge of her own.

Captain Montgomery exited his office and greeted their chorus of 'hello's' with a wave. A weary sigh escaped him as he rubbed the back of his neck to help relieve some of the pressure. "You alright, Captain?" Beckett was the first to voice her concern.

"I'm going home as soon as I re-file this, Detective Beckett, so I will be." he held up a manila envelope with a smile. "It was just a long day of rubbing the right elbows and stroking the proper egos."

"We saw you coming in and out a few times, figured someone had you doing damage control on something." Esposito chimed in.

"Well it wasn't damage control so much as good publicity. I did have to talk to the DA's office about the appeal from a case I had about ten years ago though. But other than that I was doing my level best to sell the NYPD with all the positive news we have. The mayor wants some heat off of his office for not getting the streets plowed last week and he figured good news from us would distract people."

"…Really?" Ryan's dubious look was a mirror of everyone else's.

"That's the first thing I'll think of next time I'm trudging through two feet of snow just to get across the street. 'Well this snow is so deep I could lose a small child in it, but hey! The NYPD's Homicide division has the highest closure rate since last year. I don't mind not being able to get to the job that provides my income after hearing that.'"

Beckett rolled her eyes, and said "Like that's a concern of yours, Castle." She turned back to the Captain. "What case did you have to go over, sir?"

"Homicide, woman in her early 30's was killed trying to get home after work. We thought we had the right guy, but thanks to an overachieving lab tech who went over the DNA evidence one more time, we were able to find some traces belonging to another man. Turns out he did it and tried to set our suspect up to take the fall. Our guy had worked with him a little over a year or so before the murder and had gotten him fired because he was stealing from the company and harassing the victim—who turned out to be our guy's ex. He believed the guys' aggressiveness was escalating and reported him. In the process of investigating the company found several thousand dollars worth of company product in the scum's possession. His attorney is trying to claim that if we almost put the wrong man away once, we could have done it with his client."

"Well, that'll never hold up. It's weak because the fact is you did find DNA evidence and motive for both the murder and the set-up." Beckett said.

"Not to mention, it's a pretty lame basis for an appeal. So lame." Castle commented. The Captain nodded in response.

"Why was the other guy your suspect in the first place?" Esposito asked.

"He was in love with the victim. They had dated for a time but he was more emotionally invested in the relationship than she was. Tore him up when she ended it, and he had left her a couple desperate messages. But he always insisted that no matter how much it hurt him, he realized later that ending it when she did was the kindest thing she could have done. We thought he was lying, of course. But when we told him he was cleared, he said that he would always be grateful to her for what she had done. Said it gave him the chance to meet someone else who did love him back just as much. His only regret was that he never had a chance to tell her before she was killed."

"Wow. Just goes to show that nothing's ever a guarantee; you never know when you might miss your chance to saying what you really feel." The tone of Castle's voice was light, but carried an undercurrent that everyone in the room picked up on. He had glanced briefly at Beckett as he spoke, though she seemed unaware that his eyes had landed on her; she was lost in her own sobering thoughts, knowing all too well the pain of words left unsaid. Looks were exchanged by the other three men who most certainly had noticed, however. The Captain broke the silence.

"Yeah it does," he began. "It makes me realize how much I appreciate-"

Ryan interrupted with, "You don't have to say it sir; we feel the same way." Nods greeted his statement.

Captain Montgomery paused and looked at each face in turn, then shrugged. "I was going to say I appreciate my wife for the new flat screen she just got me and I should tell her again." A chorus of "Oh!" followed and he continued solemnly, putting a hand on Ryan's shoulder. "But I also appreciate the sentiment." Keeping a straight face in response to Ryan's crestfallen look was nearly impossible, and he joined in the laughter of the others. Ryan shook his head and shrugged before cracking as well.

"Alright, I'm off. If any of you take off before I'm back, have a good evening."

'Goodnight, sir.' followed him as he headed off down the hall.

After a few minutes of idle chatter, Beckett stood and stretched. "I should probably get going too while it's still settled down out there," she indicated the windows with a nod of her head.

Castle hopped off Esposito's desk, before turning to look at the Detectives. "Hey, anyone else up for some drinks? We could stop by The Old Haunt." He raised his hands in invitation to each of them.

"Sure, that sounds nice," Kate said as she pulled on her coat.

"I've got to go get Jenny in about twenty minutes so I'll just hang here."

"Nah, you guys go on. I'm just going to hang here for a bit then go… fix some stuff at my place I've been meaning to work on." Esposito added.

"Uh-huh." The other three spoke together. Esposito frowned in confusion.

Castle turned to face Beckett as she was wrapping her scarf around her neck. Raising his eyebrows, he gestured elegantly towards the elevator. "Shall we?" He smiled as she playfully smacked him on the arm with her gloves, before ducking her head and hiding a smile of her own.

"Goodnight guys," Kate said to Ryan and Esposito as she passed their desks.

"Gentlemen," Castle saluted them as he moved to fall in step with Beckett.

"'Night" and "See ya tomorrow," was called out as the pair stepped onto the elevator. Ryan and Esposito watched as the doors closed.

"Ten bucks says he kisses her before the night is over." Still staring straight ahead, Esposito issued his challenge.

"I'm not betting against you, I'd put fifty on it." Ryan paused. "Twenty bucks says we get whatever happens out of Castle before Lanie gets Beckett to talk."

"I am _all_ over that one." Esposito had pulled out his cell phone to text her even before the sentence was completely out of his mouth.

"Normally I would be obliged to say I disapprove of all the betting that takes place here. In this case, however, I say 'count me in.'" Captain Montgomery had come up behind them completely unnoticed, sans the file he was carrying on his first pass through. He looked at them meaningfully, raised his eyebrows and said "I'm in for twenty on Dr. Parish. Nothing against you boys, but women have a way of just getting their friends to talk, especially best friends. Even Beckett has to obey whatever unspoken law of nature that falls under."

"Makes it even. And more interesting. If I weren't the one doing the grilling I'd probably bet on her too" Ryan said. An indignant 'hey!' sounded to his left. "Us. I mean if it wasn't us. Geez."

"Could be tough. He's got a good poker face. Something's gonna happen though…I can feel it." Esposito said with certainty.

A mumbled "it better" seemed to come from the Captain's direction. The Detectives turned to look at him in surprise.

"What?" he asked.

Ryan and Esposito glanced at each other, eyebrows raised. Esposito's phone beeped and he opened it to see a message from Lanie waiting. He turned the phone so the other two could see the screen.

_**Oh I am so in. About damn time!**_

Three identical smirks appeared around the phone. They couldn't have said it better themselves.

* * *

A couple hours later, a pair could be seen leaving The Old Haunt. They were laughing over some joke, and snuggled into each other against the freezing New York night. The man turned to place a kiss on the woman's cheek and she beamed up at him before returning it.

Beckett watched them from the top of the stairs as they headed off down the street. A small smile touched her mouth before she sighed almost wistfully. The bar door opened and the sounds of laughter and chatting reached her ears as Castle came trotting up the steps towards her. Once he reached the top, he smiled and offered her his arm. She took it, grinning back, and toyed with a lock of her hair with her other hand.

"Are you happy with how it's running?" Beckett asked, indicating the bar with a nod of her head.

"Yeah, I am. Nothing has really changed and all the old staff could stay on. Business is good." Castle replied. Their breath escaped on clouds of steam with every word, carrying ahead of them on a light breeze.

Kate nodded and glanced around, before stopping abruptly. Castle felt her stop and turned, puzzled. "Look. It's snowing again." She had an entranced look on her face as she took in the beauty of the scene around her; the snowfall seemed to muffle everything as the flakes caught the streetlights, drifting to gracefully land all around them. It wasn't as heavy as it had been earlier in the day, lightly falling to dust everything in a new layer of white. "You know, even as miserable as it is in a blizzard, there is something so beautiful about snow."

"Yeah. It really is beautiful." But Castle was only seeing the snowflakes that fell onto Beckett's upturned face. They clung to her hair and eyelashes like tiny crystals, but melted against her skin almost immediately. His eyes followed them as they landed, admiring each feature they touched; her high cheekbones, the tip of her nose, the curve of her lips. She must have sensed his eyes on her because she turned to look at him with a question ready before being brought up short by the look on his face.

He was close, too. She hadn't realized their proximity until her vision was consumed with almost nothing but the blue of his eyes. Neither of them moved at first, but even as the surprise set in and their wide-eyed looks mirrored each other they couldn't move away.

The blaring of a car horn broke the silence and the world came rushing back in. They jerked slightly at the assault on their ears before clearing their throats and looking around. Beckett realized she was still arm-in-arm with Castle but chose not to remove it. She ran her hand through her hair then smoothed her scarf down. To her left, she felt Castle tugging at his coat.

As Castle resettled himself, he noticed a taxi pulling up to the curb. The advertisement on the roof was for Taco Bell and—

-_Oh_. Right there on the display was one of their famous hot sauce packets with those odd, yet amusing lines staring back at him. He could not believe the stroke of luck: _That's my ticklish spot._ A diabolical look lit up his face, but he tamped it down quickly and put his hand lightly at Beckett's shoulder.

The touch of his hand drew her attention and she looked at Castle again. He pointed at the cab as it waited at a red light. "I never understood the point of those little sayings from Taco Bell. Until now." She stared in the direction he indicated and it took her a moment to find the advertisement. She read the line on the hot sauce packet. Then she read it again.

Castle felt the moment realization hit in the quick tensing of Beckett's shoulder under his hand. "Castle, don't you da—ahh!" Her vehement command ended on a very un-Beckett-like squeak of surprise as she tried to twist away from the hand at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. Castle danced out of reach of the elbow thrown his way.

"Yes!" Castle pumped his fist, reminiscent of when he had done it earlier and made the mistake of turning his back. His satisfaction was short-lived. It was his turn to yelp when he felt the handful of snow being dumped down his collar. He turned back to face Beckett, ready to protest her choice of payback when he saw she had backed off and already had a snowball ready to go. This time he was able to duck, and simultaneously leaned down to shovel some in her direction while he made a break for it. It was incredibly icy in spots, so hastening carefully was his only option. He knew she would be right behind him, so he grabbed for some snow off of a parked car.

Beckett fired off another shot that hit Castle's shoulder, but couldn't avoid the snowball he sent her way. It caught her side before she could turn out of the way. She laughed at the absurdity of the situation before preparing her next assault. She watched Castle peek out from a doorway, occasionally bending down to grab snow that had drifted against the bulding, as she tried to hide behind a utility pole. As Castle looked out from his hiding spot again trying to find her, she took aim. The snowball exploded against the corner of the doorway, spraying Castle's face with white.

"Whoa, Kate, do you have to go for the head?" He was still sputtering and wiping snow off his face, his own snowball completely forgotten. The laughter that reached his ears was unbridled. He looked at Kate to see her leaning over, hands braced on her knees. She stood up, clapping once as a new wave of laughter hit her when she saw him. The sound was music to his ears, and her flushed, smiling face drew him in.

She was still laughing as he moved closer.

"Castle, what're you—" the rest of her question was lost when he pulled her against him with one hand on her neck and the other on her hip. Their eyes met briefly before he gently covered her mouth with his own. The initial surprise of his move wore off and she began to kiss back. Really, it was difficult not to participate with a mouth as talented as his coaxing her to.

When they broke apart for air, Castle only pulled away far enough to speak. Kate could feel every word against her lips, his deep rumble imploring her: "Call me Rick."

"Rick." She breathed it out on a sigh as he firmly pressed his mouth to hers for a kiss that she felt all the way to her toes. The hand in her hair had become tangled in the strands at the nape, and she moved her own hands to splay across the back of his head and his shoulder. When he bit her bottom lip gently, she let out a soft moan and curled her fingers more tightly into his scalp. Belatedly she noticed that his breathing was just as erratic as her own.

Suddenly her brain kicked back into gear and her eyes flew open. "Wait, Cas—Rick. Wait." She forced herself to pull her mouth away before she was caught up again. Apparently the alarm in her voice snapped him out of it too. He pulled back slightly and looked at her with concern.

Putting a bit more distance between them, Kate turned disbelieving green eyes to the puzzled blue ones a couple feet away. "Rick, this is not me, I don't just kiss a man when I'm barely out of a relationship with another one. You're shadowing me. We work together. Didn't you say you should never sleep with someone you work with?" Her distressed look twisted Castle's gut a little, and he knew he needed to get his message across in one try—a mistake now could ruin so much.

"Yes, but when do I follow my own advice; when do you for that matter? And technically we aren't really co-workers, seeing as you're my muse." His attempt at levity wasn't going to distract her. So, he took a deep breath, anticipating the plunge. "I know this isn't you, Kate. It's not me either. I think you know me well enough by now to know that the playboy label—that's all it is. I got that reputation before Alexis was born, and occasionally I play into it, but it's just an act. I swear to you I haven't done anything to reinforce it. And besides, Gina and I aren't together anymore, which I am sure you know. I wouldn't do that to her or you. I'm—" He paused, uncertain. "I'm not asking you to do anything that you aren't comfortable with. I've come to realize some things because of the mess with her." Castle paused again, making sure Kate was looking nowhere but him. Taking a deep breath, he plunged on. "One of those things is that I want _magic_, Kate. And I want it with you."

Kate saw the uncertainty in his eyes; he was just as worried about what this meant for them as she was. That much had registered but she felt almost detached, like she was watching this happen in slow motion, and the words were struggling through dense fog to reach her mental processors.

"I care about you. A lot. So all you have to do is just say the words and I will do you what you need me to do." He inhaled deeply. "Even if that means giving you space. Even if it means that what I just did crossed a line and means you don't want me to shadow you anymore."

By the time he had finished speaking, everything clicked and Kate felt firmly back in the present. Though she was uncertain about where this would take them, what he said about leaving scared her more than the prospect of the unknown. Her heart and mind had come to an agreement, and she caught her bottom lip between her teeth while she chose her words. Her hands rested lightly on Rick's chest as she traced her fingers across the material. "I'm going to say this once, and if you make me regret it I will hurt you."

"I would never do anyth-" A finger on his lips silenced him.

"Shut up or I will get duct tape."

"Mm-hmm."

"I don't want space. I may need time; I don't want to rush into anything blindly. But I like having you around. And I don't want you to leave." The last sentence escaped on a whisper that Rick had to strain to hear. But hear it he did.

The intensity of his smile caused his eyes to crinkle at the corners. Kate reached up to lightly touch the creases. She looked at him and inhaled deeply before closing her eyes. Her mind was made up. When she opened them again she exhaled and nodded once. "Okay." The smile hadn't left his face; in fact it grew wider at her acceptance. The answering one she gave him was breathtaking. His hands wove themselves into her hair and he ran his fingers through the strands, simply reveling in the ability to touch her like this, before gently cupping her neck.

"I'm glad you didn't get the tape." An incredulous look greeted his statement. "I wouldn't have been able to do this," he kissed her forehead. "Or this," he tilted her head slightly by pressing his thumb to her jaw, then gently ran it over her swollen lower lip. "Or this." His other arm wrapped around her and drew her to him completely while he kissed her with three years of pent-up passion, and the first taste of something new—an emotion that caused a flutter in Kate's chest.

This time they parted slowly, with lingering touches of their lips and roaming hands until the need for air forced them to pause for a moment. "Rick?"

"Mm?"

"I have just." Kiss. "One." Kiss. "Question."

"What would that be my dear Detective Beckett?"

Kate pulled her head back and arched an elegant eyebrow. "Magic?" She inquired.

Rick leaned in and leveled a soft, assured look into her eyes. "Magic."

Kate gripped the lapels of Rick's coat tightly as she rushed in for a kiss that held the promise of many tomorrows to come. Her laughter bubbled up and echoed off the buildings as she was quite unexpectedly swept off her feet into the arms of the man she suspected she was only just beginning to know.

She hoped there was a lifetime ahead of them for that.

* * *

_Well, there it is! I sincerely hope that anyone who read got some enjoyment out of it. Reviews are certainly appreciated and if you have found faults, I welcome constructive criticism. _

_This was intended as a one-shot, but I think I will be working on a follow up; a plot bunny attacked but it was a hit-and-run. Once it returns, we'll see what I can do. Expect the rating to go up! Because with the chemistry these two have, that kind of heat probably wouldn't be too far off ;)_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's note: I am so very, very sorry for the long wait. Life came up with school and midterms that never seemed to end but flowed right into finals, my grandmother having a mild stroke and being hospitalized for a bit, then my mom ending up in the emergency room for a horrible back spasm. Everyone is doing fine, but it was a bit rough for a while. Part of the delay too was the fault of my muse: it seemed to want to get parts of a later chapter written first, so this one was a battle of wills.**_

_**I'm hoping this will be a relief from the agony of waiting for next season. I truly loved the finale and thought they did a brilliant job, and I can't wait to see where they go from there. Hopefully the vast amounts of fanfiction will get us all through! **_

_**Chapter notes: Picks up after Castle and Beckett leave the Old Haunt, and the next day of dealing with 'the bet'. (I am using 'Kate' and 'Rick' when it's just them, then last names for work.) Standard disclaimer still applies. Enjoy!  
**_

_**-Edited thanks to a very helpful review I received; my internal thesaurus was failing miserably at 4:30 this morning.  
**_

* * *

They adjourned to Kate's apartment after the kiss on the street and simply curled up together to watch a movie. Several times, 'watching a movie' evolved into longer gazes and less attention on the movie than each other's lips, but it didn't progress beyond that point. There was an unspoken agreement that they would not cross that line just yet. Truly, they both were content to take things slowly for the moment.

At some point they both fell asleep; Kate had turned towards Rick with her head tucked against his shoulder and her legs across his lap, her hand resting on his chest just over his heart. He had rested his own head gently on top of hers, one hand on her knee and his other arm around her lower back, holding her to his side. He stirred slightly and resettled with a smile on his face as Kate curled more tightly against him. He opened his eyes and blinked slowly as he became fully aware, finally focusing on the woman in his arms. Belatedly he realized it was later than he expected, as they had fallen asleep somewhere around the three-quarters mark of the movie and the credits had now ended. Glancing at the clock, he read it was nearing 12:30 in the morning. If Kate didn't have to go in to work tomorrow, he knew he could happily stay there the rest of the night.

Though he hated to wake her, he knew he should let her get a good night's rest in her own bed. Her peaceful expression warranted just one last glimpse, and he simply watched her for a few more moments before he expected he would wake her up. What he didn't expect was for her to already be awake.

"You do know I think it's creepy when you do that, right?" She mumbled sleepily.

Rick placed a kiss on the top of her head and could swear he felt her hum contentedly. "Do what?" he rumbled.

"Watch me like that," she groaned as she stretched her legs out and turned her head up towards him.

Laughing softly in response, he said "Well I just can't help it; it's hard to take your eyes off of something so beautiful." She patted his chest lightly as if to say 'sure, sure' and turned her head downwards, but he wasn't having any of that. The hand resting on her knee moved up and touched her chin gently, raising it so she would meet his eyes. His breath was nearly knocked out of his chest as he took in the sleepy but content eyes, the slightly disheveled hair, and the soft smile curving the corners of her mouth. He held her chin with his thumb and forefinger as he kissed her softly, communicating to her without words how beautiful she was.

Kate curled her fingers into his shirt as he placed a few more gentle kisses against her mouth before pulling away. "I should head home," he sighed, sounding completely unconvinced that that was truly what he intended. Kate found she was utterly disappointed at the thought but knew it was for the best; each time they kissed, she found it harder and harder to stop at that. Groaning, she sat up and stretched. She stood and offered her hand to pull him off the couch as he finished stretching, and he took it to pull her into his arms again. They walked to the door hand-in-hand before he released her to get his coat.

He opened the door, then turned to say goodnight. As they looked at each other, it was as if a magnet drew them in and they met in a slow kiss that heated up rather swiftly. Rick rested his hands at Kate's waist and she interlocked her fingers behind his neck as they kissed deeply for several long moments. Kate had to pull herself back after a time as she thought about why she was letting him go home. Rick rested his forehead against hers, breathing slowly. Straightening up, he took her hand and gently kissed the knuckles. "Until tomorrow, Katherine." He smiled that charming smile before slowly withdrawing his hand and turning away.

Call her old-fashioned, but she loved that gesture; her insides positively fluttered when he did it. She felt much like a Lady in one of the historical romances she secretly adored—a love of her mother's as well. She leaned against the doorframe and watched him until he rounded the corner. She smiled to herself, lower lip caught between her teeth and knuckles still tingling, then went inside. The smile never quite left her lips as she fell asleep that night.

* * *

She was at the precinct bright and early the next morning, decidedly content despite the fact that she had gone to sleep later than normal. The reason for it, she internally acknowledged, was certainly a pleasant one indeed. The smile that had been in place the night before reappeared as she sat down to work.

It was still there a few minutes later as Ryan entered the bullpen. He saw it just before she noticed him coming to his desk and made a mental note to text Esposito if he didn't arrive soon. She smiled and greeted him as usual, but the first smile was different; he could sense it. "Good morning," he greeted in return. "Did you and Castle make it to The Old Haunt okay last night?" He wanted to see if he could get anything from her that he and Esposito could use to interrogate Castle.

"Yeah we did. It started snowing as we left, but it wasn't too bad," she replied offhandedly.

"Good, good. The roads weren't too bad for you both to get home?" He could have sworn he saw her pause slightly on whatever she was writing, but she recovered quickly.

"Nope, they were fine."

"Okay." He shrugged and turned to his computer, acting like the conversation was over. As Beckett peered sideways at him, he internally grinned. He had her. Pulling out his phone, he sent a text message to his partner.

**We have 2 get 2 Castle fast. Beck is here and she's hiding something.**

The response was not long in coming.

**B right there. Not telling Lanie. **

Beckett's phone buzzed in her pocket, and she retrieved it to see a text waiting from Lanie. **Good morning! How was the Haunt? U drink a little extra 4 me?**

Beckett grinned at the text and quickly replied. **Nah, u can make up 4 it next time.**

**So where did u go after? His place or urs? ;)**

She just barely managed to control the indignant sound threatening to break free. Opting to glare at the phone rather than answer, she left it sitting on her desk. After a few minutes of typing, it buzzed at her elbow. She knew not getting an answer bothered her friend, and she allowed a small smirk to escape at the thought of how ticked Lanie would be right now. Absentmindedly, she reached for the phone and opened the text, not glancing away from her computer screen. She rested her cheek in her hand as she finally looked down.

**Fine, don't answer. I'll just assume he went 2 urs then. I know u like ur own bed. **

Well, wasn't the M.E. in a fine mood this morning. Normally, Lanie would just get annoyed and keep pestering her until—

**Have u told the boys yet? I'm sure they'd want 2 know.**

_Crap._ That was not entirely expected, she had to admit. Time for damage control. **Already at the precinct WORKING. Get ur mind out of the gutter. What u r thinking did NOT happen.**

**But he did go 2 ur place?**

_Double crap._ Being quick on her feet was her job, and while lying to her best friend was something she wouldn't do, she could twist the truth when necessary.

**He saw me home like a perfect gentleman. Satisfied?**

**Did he give u a goodnight kiss? It IS what gentlemen do.**

**No.**

In a sense what she had was true, he had seen her home—but ended up staying—then kissed her hand when he left and said "until tomorrow." So, technically it was an 'until tomorrow' kiss. Once again, she grinned to think of it; thank goodness Lanie couldn't see that.

* * *

On her way into work, Lanie sat in the subway car and frowned at the cellular device she had seriously considered throwing somewhere. She knew her friend wouldn't lie to her, but she couldn't see around those two letters mocking her on the screen.

**No.**

Damn. She was still certain Castle had kissed Beckett, but for now she had been successfully stonewalled; if she kept pushing, she knew it would set off some warning bells and they would all lose the bet before it ever really got started. So, she had to come up with a new tactic.

**Lame. U 2 are hopeless. **Let the girl think she was safe.

**Shuuut uuup.**

The tone she pictured behind the familiar response caused her to smile, despite the stubbornness of the person who sent it. If she could act like she backed off and it was no big deal, she could maybe corner Beckett later on. She had to see the girl in person; then she would know if she was getting the whole story. Defeated for the moment, she began working on a new strategy. She just hoped the boys' luck was as bad as hers so far.

* * *

As it turned out, their luck wasn't too far off. Castle hadn't come in yet, so Ryan and Esposito were on pins and needles, heads turning in unison whenever they heard the elevator stop on their floor. The problem was, Beckett had noticed about the second time. She watched them suspiciously as she went about her work, but seemed to be paying awfully close attention to who was coming onto the floor as well. For what felt like the dozenth time, but was likely only about the sixth, they heard the elevator stop. Their eyes lit up as they heard a familiar voice greet someone in the hallway.

Sure enough, Castle strode confidently around the corner, two cups of coffee and a bear claw in his hands. He nodded at Ryan and Esposito as he entered, who nodded back, watching carefully. Beckett sat up as he approached, accepting the usual breakfast with a smile and a soft 'thank you'. Their eyes met as they always did, but they held a little longer than normal. Esposito's eyes slid slowly to his partner, who nodded almost imperceptibly.

"You've been drinking the swill again, I see." Castle said as he sat in his chair. His nod indicated the mug on Beckett's desk. "Something wrong with the cappuccino machine?"

"Nope, I wanted my coffee and the 'swill' was already made when I got here," Beckett drank from the new coffee gratefully. "If this had been here instead," she said holding it aloft, "I wouldn't have needed the other."

"So that's how it is? I bring you coffee and a bear claw and all I get in return is grief for not being here _at the crack of dawn._" He said, playfully.

"It wasn't the crack of dawn, Castle. Some people have normal work hours." She spoke slowly, as if talking to a child.

"Normal? Hah! Normal is not in your vocabulary, Detective."

"If it's missing from mine, then it has never heard of yours."

"That's probably true," he acknowledged. "Even so, your work hours dare not claim normal to the café I get this from. I am sure they have adequate evidence to the contrary." Having delivered his speech, he sighed and took a sip of his own drink. "Such ungratefulness for so early an hour." The grin that tugged at a corner of his mouth and caused the crinkles at his eyes gave him away.

Simply rolling her eyes, Beckett made a point of taking a bite of the bear claw and chewing fully before she answered. "I never said I wasn't grateful." In response, Castle shrugged and gazed at her over the rim of his cup, his eyes telling her he knew she was.

They looked away from each other and Beckett went back to her work. Castle noticed a strange silence behind him and turned to peek over his shoulder. Two pairs of narrowed eyes were staring back at him and he frowned in puzzlement before turning back to Beckett. Catching her eye, he jerked his head in their direction and only got a head shake in response that indicated she had no clue. She sent a glare their way as he turned back around, and they pretended to be quite suddenly fascinated by various things on the walls and desks around them.

Castle grabbed Beckett's mug and stood, intending to return it to the break room. Ryan noticed the motion and casually got up with a random completed file from the stack on his desk. Beckett thanked Castle absently, but paid no attention to Ryan as he moved to dig through one of the file drawers. Esposito grabbed his mug and headed for the break room as Beckett stood too.

"Hey Ryan, is that report finished?" She pointed to the one he held in his hand.

"Uh, yeah, yeah. I was just going to go file it."

"I can take it for you. I'm on my way there anyway."

"Okay, thanks Beckett." He handed it over gratefully and watched her walk around the corner, files in hand. As soon as he was sure she cleared, he darted into the break room, where Esposito already had Castle subtly pinned against one of the counters. Strolling in, he flanked Esposito, effectively trapping the author without his knowledge. The two laughed about something, but as Castle turned around, he noticed they were blocking his exit. The smirks on their faces made him worry just a little.

"So," Esposito started. "How was last night?"

Castle simply stared at him, confused. "What about last night?"

"You and Beckett went to get drinks. How was it?"

"Fine? We were getting drinks, what is there to tell?"

"Hang on, bro—we didn't even ask you to tell. Sounds like you might be hiding something."

"What? Come on, guys, that's ridiculous. We went out for drinks. It was nice."

"You're not the kind to kiss and tell, are you?" Ryan placed a little emphasis on 'kiss' and watched for Castle's reaction.

Castle opened his mouth to answer, but Esposito cut him off "How long were you guys there?"

"A couple of hours, maybe. This is really starting to feel like an interrogation." Castle's voice was pitched to sound deliberately unconcerned, but he was watching the guys intently.

"Nah, not at all, just a friendly conversation." Esposito slapped him on the back, just hard enough for Castle to flinch; he knew Esposito worked out but geez, the guy could do serious damage.

"Yeah, man-to-man, you know. Just wanted to know what you kids were up to." Ryan paused, shrugging innocently as Castle continued to look dubiously at the pair of them.

"You know, in case you were up to no good."

"I mean you go to a bar…"

"…Have a few drinks…"

"…It's pretty cold out so you sit really close in the cab on the way home…"

"And before you know it—"

"—you're making out on someone's couch like—"

"Hey, guys, what's going on?" Beckett's nonchalant voice from the doorway made the two Detectives turn, startled, like two little kids caught picking on the baby of the family by their mom. Or worse: their big sister. Castle took the opportunity to dart through the space between them and went to stand slightly behind Beckett, using her as a shield of sorts. She stood casually, but she knew something was up.

"Oh nothing, just shootin' the breeze."

"Yep, just asking Castle there about how the Old Haunt was doing."

A pregnant pause followed as all four occupants of the room gauged each other for a response. Beckett had suspicions, based on Lanie's earlier texts that she and the two standing in front of her were up to something. But instead of calling them on it, she would see who she could get to crack first. It wasn't going to be easy, because while Ryan and Esposito were trained Detectives who knew her tactics—heck, they had adopted some of them—Lanie was a formidable opponent because she could read people as well as any of them.

It was a standoff for all of twenty seconds before Beckett's desk phone began to ring. She narrowed her eyes at her Detectives and raised her head to signal she wasn't letting them off the hook, not missing the relief that flashed across their eyes. She nearly ran Castle over in her haste to get to her desk, but he managed a neat sidestep that placed her between him and the other two men.

"Detective Beckett." She waited for the person on the other line. "Got an address?" Tucking the phone against her shoulder, she grabbed a pen and began writing. Noticing Castle at her elbow she whispered to him over her shoulder. "Stop hiding behind me."

"Hey, I am not—"

She glared at him, still listening.

"Fine" he grumbled, shifting himself scant inches away from his previous position.

"Alright, we're on our way." She ended the call as Ryan and Esposito came out of the break room. "We've got a body. Babysitter found a guy hanging by his feet from a fire escape. Cops on the scene already got a hold of Lanie, she'll meet us there." She passed the address off to Ryan as he came to stand at her desk. The four of them grabbed their coats as they headed for the elevators. Castle continued to try to use Beckett as his buffer zone.

When they stepped inside, he shifted himself to her right and subtly peeped over the top of her head. The other two men stared straight ahead, expressionless. Just as Castle made to turn away, Esposito turned his head slightly and stared at him out of the corner of his eye. The corner of his mouth twitched and he waggled his eyebrows before resuming his previous posture. Castle blinked in surprise, unsure if he even saw it or if he had suddenly become paranoid. They were up to something, of that he was sure. He had no clue what to make of it yet, but he planned to talk it over with Beckett on the ride to the crime scene.

Once they were in the car and moving, an easy silence settled over the pair. Unbeknownst to each other, they were both mulling over their respective conversations with Lanie and the boys. Kate kept glancing at the thoughtful frown on Rick's brow before asking, "So what made you hide from Ryan and Esposito?"

"I said I wasn't hiding!" his indignant tone simply added fuel to the fire and he mock glared at her as she smirked. "Okay fine, I was hiding," he acquiesced. "They cornered me in there and asked about the Old Haunt and somehow it turned into making out." The mouthful of coffee Kate had just taken almost ended up all over her steering wheel and dash. As she spluttered, trying to clear the rest of the liquid from her windpipe, realization of what he had said dawned on Rick.

"What?" Kate croaked before clearing her throat and trying again. "What did I miss in there?"

"It wasn't like that! Detective Beckett, get your mind out of the gutter."

"Hey, I'm just curious about which people in the precinct you are willing to make out with."

Voice low, Rick turned towards her and said "Only the really sexy people." As he had expected, she chuckled lightly and shook her head. She raised an eyebrow and glanced at him quickly as she pulled up to a red light. "What I _meant_ to say was that they suddenly started talking about the two of us _hypothetically_ making out. They were interrogating me about what we did after we left the Old Haunt."

Kate considered that for a second. "You know, Lanie asked me almost the same thing this morning. She asked how the Old Haunt was, then whose place we went to. And whether or not you kissed me goodnight."

"Huh."

They lapsed into silence. Kate peered both ways before proceeding through the intersection on the green light, and Rick stared out the windshield as well. A sudden soft laugh to his left drew his attention.

"What's funny?" he asked.

"How much do you think they bet on us?" Kate replied, clearly amused.

He caught on quickly. "Oh, my God that makes so much sense! Twenty has been the standard so far, I'm gonna guess it started at that."

"Now the question is just what exactly they bet on."

"Well they're awfully certain there was some kissing going on last night, but I'm going to guess that us kissing isn't all there is to the bet; that's too simple. Somehow they're pitted against each other."

"Well Lanie got a hold of me first thing, and Ryan and Esposito were awfully anxious about the arrivals this morning. Something tells me time is not on their side." They rounded a corner and a contemplative quiet filled the car.

"Who can get a confession first!" They called out in unison and grinned at each other.

"Definitely something they would do," Rick said.

"Now how do we throw them off their little games?" Her eyes took on a gleam as she began to plot.

"You're sexy when you're thinking one step ahead." A wink and a salute with her coffee cup were delivered as Kate parked the car at the already teeming crime scene.

* * *

"What do we have Lanie?" Beckett was all business again as she strode towards the M.E. and the other crime scene techs who were busy cataloguing evidence.

"Guy was hung by some rope from the fire escape ladder over your head, likely not long dead when he was left that way."

"What makes you say that?" Castle questioned.

"See the pooling in the tips of his fingers here? And the swelling in his face? It doesn't show up anywhere else on the body, meaning he wasn't left stationery for long enough to allow it to settle, and that his heart had very recently stopped beating. He looks like he was put through the ringer a bit beforehand; you can see some broken skin and bruising across his cheeks and torso, but he has some defensive wounds too so he didn't go down without a fight. The nasty cut at his temple is my preliminary cause of death, possibly due to being slammed into the railing. Head wounds bleed a lot, so I'll have to get him cleaned up to see if there was anything else."

"Do you have a time?" Beckett asked

"Based on liver temp and the fact that it wasn't too cold last night, sometime between eleven p.m. and twelve-thirty a.m."

"Okay, thank you Lanie." Beckett stood from her inspection of the body and craned her head towards the fire escape. One of the techs was still dusting for fingerprints on the level above, and she watched as another collected a few fibers from the platform. Hopefully that would give them a concrete lead out of the dozens of people who likely traversed the stairs.

She turned as Esposito came towards her. "Yo, just talked to the guys who picked up the call. They said the babysitter called it in at 8:45, hysterical at the time. Couldn't get much out of her other than the location, and she was still pretty shaken up when they got here. Ryan's talking to her now."

As if on cue, Ryan headed their way after laying a gentle hand on the young girl's shoulder. She still appeared stunned, and tears flowed freely over her freckled skin. "Hey, guys. Girl's name is Andrea Wallen, seventeen. Turns out she's known the family since she was little because the wife used to watch her. She was headed over to watch a family's twins just one floor up so their mom could take care of some business in Jersey when she found him." He flipped back a page in his notebook. "Victim's name is James Doucette."

"Does anyone know where the wife is?" Castle asked, watching the girl with compassion openly displayed on his face.

"Allison and James separated around six months ago, and Allison lives on the Upper East Side."

"Was the divorce messy?" Esposito asked.

"Andrea said it was pretty amiable; they just agreed things weren't working and didn't want to end up hating each other."

"Ryan, Esposito: contact Allison and have her come down to the station so we can talk to her."

"You got it."

Esposito glanced slyly towards Lanie as she helped load the body onto a gurney. She looked around, as if she could feel his eyes on her. When she finally caught his eyes, she winked and quirked a flirtatious eyebrow. Her gaze suddenly sharpened as she watched Beckett walk a few paces away. She mouthed "I'm watching you" to Esposito, who stared at her, momentarily clueless.

"Who me?" he mouthed back. She narrowed her eyes in response before hurrying to catch Beckett before Castle did. Esposito noticed where she was headed and moved quickly to cut off Castle's escape. He flicked his pen cap at Ryan who turned with an indignant air before he caught the shushing motion and the thumb pointed in Lanie's direction. Fortunately, Castle had his backs to them as he stared up the ladder.

"Hey, Beckett I was wond—" he stopped abruptly when he realized his intended audience was now several yards away, and that he was once again boxed in by the two men in front of him. They flipped through their notebooks casually and Ryan raised his head almost distractedly.

"Wondering what?" he asked.

Now that Castle was onto their game, he was far less concerned about being trapped. He didn't know what Kate's was planning yet though, so he had to be careful about being interrogated again. "I was just wondering why someone would leave James like that. I mean in the open, on display—he was hanging there like a side of beef."

"I don't know, but it does make sense that they would have a reason for it. Hanging him up like that would have taken extra time, especially since they were careful enough that nobody has claimed to have heard anything so far." Esposito commented.

"Hmm. Maybe he got in with the wrong crowd; gambling debt, pool hustling, the mob sending a message, something."

"Yeah, maybe," came Ryan's ambiguous answer. "Hey, Castle, about this morning..." he began.

"You know we were just messing with you, right?" Esposito finished.

"Yeah of course," Castle answered jovially.

"Good. But you do know that you can talk to us, yeah? I mean, we're your friends."

Ryan jumped in. "And friends can, you know, share stuff. Talk about things."

"Yeah…" Castle prompted, hiding his amusement.

Esposito leaned in and lowered his voice. "So. Friend to friend: how was last night?"

Castle smiled as if he was lost in thought and clasped both men's shoulders. "It was good. No, better than good—it was great." The eager expressions in front of him almost made him lose his composure. He bit back a laugh and continued. "Part of it got kind of cold though. And a bit painful." A dramatic wince followed his statement.

Ryan and Esposito frowned in puzzlement and reared back. Castle drew them back in and whispered, "Word of advice: don't ever challenge Beckett to a snowball fight." He patted them both on the shoulder and nodded solemnly before pushing between them to rescue Beckett from the same treatment courtesy of the resident M.E.

* * *

Though she stood almost a full head shorter than Beckett, Lanie had the intimidation power of an Amazon when necessary. This was not lost on her taller friend, who was very aware that her every facial tic was being carefully processed and filed into the woman's brain. "So Castle saw you back to your place, huh?"

"Yes, Lanie."

"Like a perfect gentleman?"

"Yes, Lanie."

"Did he stay?"

Beckett narrowed her eyes. "For a bit." _Damn it._

"Interesting. You didn't mention that when I texted you this morning." Lanie's smile was slow as she received the new bit of knowledge.

"You didn't ask," Beckett calmly retorted.

"I did ask if he kissed you goodnight. Did he?"

"No," she drew out the single syllable slowly.

"Uh huh." An idea struck her. "Did he kiss you _at all?_" She watched carefully as Beckett's nostrils flared ever-so-slightly.

Determined not to give Lanie anything before she set about demolishing the bet, she decided a little teasing wasn't out of line. "Fine, if you must know: yes he did." The barely restrained glee on her friends' features was quickly quashed by the next sentence. "_On the hand._" She turned her wrist and looked quickly at her father's watch to hide the smile brought on by Lanie's flabbergasted stare. "I'm going to head back to the precinct, give me a call if you find anything new." She waved at her and met Castle halfway before they turned towards the car.

Fully aware that three pairs of eyes were following them, they spoke to each other without turning their heads. "She trying again?"

"Yep. Them too?"

"Oh yeah."

"How frustrated did you leave them?"

"Pretty damn. And confused. I'll tell you in the car. What about her?"

"She may want to shoot me right about now. Actually, she would probably shoot both of us. I'll tell you why in the car, after your story."

"Okay. So, was round one a success?"

"I think it was a slam dunk." She reached the door and slid in quickly.

"I'm going to need to know what your plan is so we don't blow it too soon."

"I have a feeling you're going to like it. I don't really plan on keeping it a secret for too long. But since I'm in this with the right person, we can have some fun with it." As she turned the car around, the giddy grin she saw on Castle's features made her grin in response. They told their stories on the way back to the precinct, which drew several laughs from both of them. As Kate outlined her plan, Castle gaped at her with a mix of admiration and delight. She was right about him liking the idea; he liked it very much.

* * *

Lanie was still staring after the car after it rounded the corner. She looked to Esposito where he and Ryan still stood, seeming as nonplussed as she felt. Beckett hadn't confessed, but she had at least gotten her to say that Castle had kissed her hand—although that wasn't going to win her the bet. Briefly, she wondered if Castle would have said anything about that to the boys, and decided she had good reason to believe he wouldn't give that away.

They headed towards her and she realized she had a way to set them back on their heels, so she decided to let them think she was close to getting a confession.

"Well, that was interesting." Ryan sighed.

"What was interesting, sweetie?" Lanie asked a little too sweetly.

"Castle. I really thought he was going to give us more than we wanted to hear, then he head-faked us."

"He's messin' with us."

"Hmm." Her noncommittal response drew a frown from Javier and he squared up to her, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Alright, tell me you did any better."

"Maybe I did. Maybe _I_ know a little bit more about what happened last night than you do. Maybe I'm a little bit closer to getting Beckett to tell me the whole story."

"No way. Beckett wouldn't spill before Castle. Would she?" Ryan turned to his partner for reassurance.

"No. She wouldn't."

"Don't be so sure, baby. After all, you didn't hear what she just told me." She stared at them from underneath her lashes and had an impish expression dancing in her eyes.

Esposito threw down a challenge as he stepped towards her. "Fine. I'm upping the ante. Twenty is still on the table, but let's make this a little more interesting." He paused. "Losers wax their eyebrows off."

A snort greeted the new bet. "Please, is that all you've got?"

"Forty dollars, losers wax their eyebrows, and have to do karaoke in front of the whole precinct. Winners choose the song. Just so you know: I'm goin' straight for the jugular with that Barbie song."

Ryan backed him up as they confronted Lanie's infuriatingly satisfied smirk.

"You're on." She said calmly before she turned on her heel and strode away.

"Are you sure about this?" Ryan asked.

"Not a bit. We have to get Castle to break."

"Yeah…that would be nice. 'Cause I'm sort of attached to my eyebrows."

Esposito turned his head slowly towards his partner with a slight grimace. Absently, he touched his own eyebrows, pretending not to notice as Kevin did the same.

"What do you think she would make us sing?"

"Don't even want to think about it, bro. I really don't."

* * *

_** There it is! I do apologize again and hope this was worth the wait. More will be coming, and since I have the summer (and my brain to myself), I hope it will come a little faster. I know this was lighter on relationship scenes, but hopefully it didn't disappoint. Trust me: the good stuff is still to come. As usual, reviews and constructive criticism are welcome and appreciated!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's note: Well, so much for having time. Instead of the general laziness that usually accompanies a summer home from college, I walk in the door and get a "Hi, sweetie, how are you? You need to go get everything out of your old bedroom and go through it all. Oh, and there's more stuff we need to go through in the spare room." Aaand I hate cleaning. Ah, well. I wish I had the powers of a house-elf right about now. Speaking of which! Harry Potter also has dominated my life for the past weeks, so I was really distracted by that; I hope you can forgive my nerd-ness, but HP is a major love of mine and I will desperately miss it. (Yes I went to a midnight premiere all dressed up. It was awesome!)**_

_**Chapter notes: I am deliberately using 'Castle' and 'Beckett' when they are at the precinct, then 'Rick' and 'Kate' when it is just them. Of course they would probably still use last names a lot because it's so familiar, but less so when it's just them together as a couple I would think.**_

Almost forgot: Usual disclaimer of not owning these characters-simply borrowing them and hoping not to piss anyone off-applies. No beta, all mistakes are my own.  


_**The delay was less this time at least, but still unacceptable in my mind. I hope this chapter is worth the wait. I broke it up before it got insanely long. Enjoy, and feedback is always appreciated!**_

* * *

Once back at the precinct, Beckett began working on the early stages of the murder board. So far they had nothing except small bits of information about the victim, but the process of filling the blank space with data allowed her brain to compile a road map of sorts, with all avenues of investigation open. She capped her pen and backed up to sit on the desk behind her. "Whole lot of hurry up and wait," she said under her breath as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Castle joined her from the break room a few minutes later, studying the limited information on the board in silence. "Have we heard anything from neighbors yet? It's hard to believe nobody noticed anything."

She shook her head in response and pursed her lips. "Nothing so far. Hard for me to believe too, but whoever did this took the time to leave him like that; it wasn't rushed so they likely had time to cover their tracks as well."

"And until we talk to the ex, we don't really know what was going on in his life."

"If she even knows. It may have been an amicable enough split, but there's no guarantee they kept in touch."

"Are you going to pull his phone records? We'll have a heads up if they were in contact and if there is anything else interesting."

"Yeah, that's good. I can do that now, as long as we're waiting for Ryan and Esposito to bring her back." She returned to her desk and typed in a few commands. The number of James' phone company popped up on the screen, which she quickly jotted down before making the call. After asking to speak to a manager, she proceeded to wait for several minutes while listening to the most ghastly hold music she had ever heard. Beckett sighed in frustration, tapping her pen on her desk with increasing force.

Castle looked over his shoulder and cocked his head in question. "Are you on hold?"

"Uh-huh. I doubt it took this long for the Little Miss Jaded who answered the phone to get her boss. She's probably making a long-distance call to her boyfriend."

Castle took his seat by her desk and held out his hand. Beckett raised an eyebrow in response. "Can I have the phone?"

"This may be against my better judgment..." but she handed it over anyway and turned to her computer.

After another couple of minutes she heard the monotone of the young woman coming over the receiver. Castle responded with his voice pitched low and warm—a tone she was coming to learn could have deadly power over women. When he meant it anyway, and wasn't being sarcastically sweet.

"Hello, this is Richard Castle, who am I speaking to? Maggie? Hi Maggie-yes I am that Richard Castle." The voice reached a piercing pitch which made Beckett flinch. Castle held the phone a couple inches away for a moment, with such a nonchalant attitude that Beckett rolled her eyes but hid a grin behind her hand. "Listen I'm in a bit of a hurry and I really need to talk to your boss. No not about you, but I do promise not to tell them how long my partner had to wait. Okay, great. Thank you, Maggie." With a flourish, he passed the phone back to Beckett. After a brief conversation she was assured the records would be faxed to her within the hour.

Shortly after hanging up, the phone rang. "Beckett." She paused, listening. "We'll be right down Lanie, thank you."

* * *

A yelp preceded the duo around the corner into the autopsy room. Holding one ear as they appeared, Castle bore a triumphant but pained look that was a comical mix as the two expressions battled for dominance on his features. Beckett rubbed her neck as she shot a glare at him that was strangely at odds with the light in her eyes and—Lanie noted with surprise—_blush_ that was slowly fading from her cheeks. She shook her head and resolved to pester her about it later.

"What have you got for me, Lanie?"

"I pulled a couple hairs from the body, sent them for testing. DNA could come back in the next twenty-four hours or so."

"Ok, great, let's hope they belong to our killer." Beckett's phone began to ring in her pocket, and she excused herself to answer.

Lanie realized she was so caught up in the bet she had forgotten about the information she had given Castle just a day previously. Once her friend had stepped away to take the call, she closed in on Castle as he studied the body on her table.

"So, did my information prove to be useful?"

Castle looked at her for a moment, puzzled, before he realized what she meant. He glanced sideways towards Beckett, ensuring she was still occupied, then pointed back and forth between her and his ear before giving Lanie a thumbs up.

She laughed softly to herself, now aware of what had just happened, and opened her mouth to press him further but promptly closed it as Beckett returned. "That was Ryan, he and Esposito are escorting Allison up. Do you have anything else for us?"

"I have a cause for you. He was strangled, had petechial hemorrhaging in his eyes. The discoloration from the blood kept me from seeing the ligature marks at first, but once I got him all cleaned up it was a lot easier to spot. The head wound would have finished him off, but he didn't get time for that."

"That means the attacker was strong enough to overpower him. Strangulation takes rage, so this could have been personal." Beckett jotted it all down in a notebook.

"There was also less blood loss than I originally thought so I think I can narrow your window. My best guess? Just after midnight in conjunction with liver temp and amount of blood loss."

"Thank you Lanie. Come on Castle, let's go talk to the ex."

"My favorite thing to do." He joked as he trailed Beckett out, trying to reach for her neck again. She swatted him away and he turned to grin over his shoulder at Lanie as they disappeared around the corner.

* * *

"Hello, Allison. I'm Detective Kate Beckett, this is Richard Castle. I am so sorry for your loss." She projected as much empathy as she could into the statement, truly sorry that another person had joined the ranks of the victims left behind.

"Thank you." The petite redhead's eyes shone with tears.

"We need to ask you a few questions that may help us find the person who did this."

"Of course," she sniffed. "Anything I can do to help you."

"I understand the two of you divorced. Did you happen to have any contact with James recently?"

"Yes, I did actually. We started talking to each other pretty regularly a few months ago. I think we were both starting to wonder if maybe the divorce was a mistake."

"Do you know if he was having any problems with anyone lately?" Castle interjected.

"Not that I know of, no. James was a really easy person to get along with, and incredibly kind." Her voice cracked as she finished her sentence, and she dabbed at her eyes trying to stem the tears flowing freely down her cheeks. "I, um, texted him. Last night. I was having a bad night and just wanted to talk to him. He was usually really good about answering, and he never did. I guess now I know why."

"Do you remember what time that was?" Beckett asked.

"Gosh, a little after midnight—here." She pulled out her phone and showed them a message. "12:10." Castle took note of the call back number.

Beckett passed the woman her card. "Thank you. If you think of anything or just need to talk, give me a call."

They escorted Allison out as Ryan walked up with the phone records from the fax machine, Beckett unsurprised by the fact that they didn't make it in time. As the three of them began to look them over, Castle spotted Allison's number several times in just the last month and pointed it out. Beckett split the stack of papers, handing one set to Ryan and taking the other back to her desk. "Alright, we know she was telling the truth about their contact, so let's see if there are any calls that don't belong."

Esposito grabbed another stack of papers from a printer. "Yo, got the financials for the past three months. Want me to start going over them?"

"Yeah, that's great. Ryan do you want phones or money?"

"You make that sound so much better than it really is. Money." He handed his papers back then sat down with Esposito.

The four delved into the files, barely registering the lengthening shadows as the day wore on. The coffee breaks started getting longer, attention spans shorter, and it was clear that none of them had found anything of interest.

Beckett ran her hands up her face and into her hair in frustration as she leaned back in her chair to alleviate the strain on her back. Taking one last look at the files in front of her, she closed them up as she addressed the two men still at their desks. "We're not getting anywhere, let's call it a night guys. Go home."

They looked just as tired and frustrated as she was, blinking as they tried to adjust their eyes from staring so long at the numbers in front of them. Even though it wasn't all that late, with what felt like nothing productive to do all day the monotony was dragging on them all. As they started to straighten up Castle turned from the murder board, an uncharacteristically stymied look on his face. He groaned softly as he stretched the kinks out of his back. He nodded at Ryan and Esposito as they said their goodnights, looking to Beckett as she prepared to leave.

"You're going to keep working, aren't you?"

She glanced at him, wondering how he so often managed to know what she was going to do before she did it. "Yeah, I was planning on it. I feel like I should keep looking, even if I can't find anything."

"Even if there's nothing to be found, because as long as you're trying, you feel like you aren't letting Allison down." It was more a statement than a question, and she simply nodded her head in response. "You aren't, Kate. We'll find the guy; it's only been one day."

"You're right. It just bothers me that we have nothing to go on yet."

"I know. Want some help?"

"Sure. Two pairs of eyes are better than one. My place or yours?"

* * *

Over a simple meal of order-in food that was going to add to the Styrofoam temple in her fridge, Kate and Rick discussed the details of the case _ad nauseum_. After about the fifth round of theory spinning with nothing new to actually spin, Kate flopped back against the cushions of her couch with her hands in her hair. A glass of wine came into her peripheral vision and she reached for it gratefully, taking a sip as Rick took one as well. The deep red liquid drew her gaze, and she stared into it for several moments, searching in vain for some inspiration that would clear her overcrowded mind.

It was no use, so she decided to steer conversation away from the case. "Where are Martha and Alexis?"

"Alexis has a special school trip upstate and my mother volunteered to be a chaperone. Oh, the irony." Rick deadpanned. Kate had to hide behind her wineglass for a moment as she schooled her features into a mask of mild amusement. "You can laugh. I did. Anyway, they're supposed to be gone for the week."

Kate didn't miss his pout. "They'll be back before you know it. I imagine it is hard to play laser tag by yourself."

"Try _really_ hard."

"Why am I not surprised you have done it?"

"Because you, Detective Beckett, know me very well." He looked exceedingly pleased with himself as he watched her over the rim of his glass.

"That should really frighten me. The fact that it doesn't means I should probably get my head shrunk."

"You love it."

She nudged him with her foot before shifting so she faced him. "It's not too bad once you get used to it. Kinda like the break room coffee." She placed her wine on the table, fighting back a smirk.

He mock glared at her and she caved, throwing her head back and exposing the long column of her throat as she laughed. The expanse of skin in front of him begged to be touched, and as Kate's gaze came back to meet his own, he saw her register what he was very certain his body was broadcasting. She didn't move away as he reached out a hand to caress the side of her neck, leaning into the touch instead. A soft moan was his undoing, and he crowded her into the corner of the couch as he claimed her lips.

Arms wrapped around his neck, Kate allowed Rick to ease her back so that she was reclining slightly, legs falling open of their own accord as he settled between her thighs. The more intimate contact made them both sigh, Kate's head falling back when she felt his desire pressing against her, granting the access that Rick had been seeking. Warm breath assaulted her neck, followed by an even warmer mouth that latched onto her pulse point, sucking gently. The concern of having a mark there in the morning vanished when she felt the light nip of teeth followed by the soothing swipe of a tongue, which Rick repeated several times until she was shuddering beneath him.

His mouth returned to hers and she surged into the contact, placing one hand on the back of his neck to hold him to her while she coaxed his mouth open. The first touch of their tongues drew a satisfied groan from him, and she pressed in deeper still, the hand at the back of his neck snaking into his hair while the other moved to the open top buttons of his dress shirt. Scooting down, she traced a path with her tongue and lips down his jaw, over his Adam's apple and to the hollow of his throat. She heard him swallow above her as she traced patterns on his skin, fingers dancing lightly in the wake of her mouth over the protrusion of his collarbone.

A shrill ring froze them momentarily as they stared, wide-eyed into each other's faces. They turned their heads towards the offending sound, Castle more than half tempted to chuck the phone across the room, consequences at Kate's hands be damned. Said hands pushed insistently at his chest reminding him that he needed to move, but he did so in a daze, watching as she grabbed for the phone trying to vibrate its way off her living room table. The sound finally stopped as she brought the phone to her ear.

"Beckett." The breathless quality in her voice triggered the mad desire to laugh at the cliché situation they had just found themselves in, but he quelled the dangerous urge in favor of studying her. Her face was flushed, her hair tousled, and she was still sprawled beneath him—_beneath_ him!—as she waited for the person on the other end of the call. He was close enough to hear the conversation, and recognized Esposito's voice.

_"You okay, Beckett? I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"_

Rick mouthed 'yes!' as Kate replied to the contrary with a finger over his lips.

"What do you have?" Rick's hands began to wander, one inching towards the hem of her shirt while the other deliberately stroked her neck. An involuntary gasp escaped her that she attempted to cover by clearing her throat, glaring daggers at him and slapping his hands away.

_"The babysitter that Ryan talked to, Andrea, called him to say she remembered seeing a creepy guy hanging around the building over the course of a few days, like he was waiting for something. She mentioned being freaked out by him to James, so he confronted the guy. Apparently he got a little upset."_

"Okay, great, did we get a description?"

_"Better. The girl is an artist so she sketched him for us and had her parents fax it to the precinct. Ryan is uploading it into the system now."_

"Great, hopefully he has some priors and something pops. Why are _you_ there?"

His answer was interrupted by the blaring of Rick's cell phone, the 'Dad! Dad! Dad!' coming from his pocket making him scramble off of Kate to dig it out and silence it.

_"Are you with Castle?"_ Esposito asked, clearly smirking. Rick greeted his daughter with a quiet "Hi sweetie," as he sat opposite Kate.

"No." Kate answered slowly.

_"Dad, is Beckett with you?"_ Apparently Alexis had heard the other woman.

"No." He stopped. He and Kate locked gazes, realizing they were having the same conversation.

There was a short silence on both sides, before they replied in unison.

"He's with me."

"I'm with her."

_"So. Just doin' a little extra credit homework, huh?"_ Kate refused to dignify the question with a response, asking him if he had anything else.

_"If I'm interrupting something I can call back."_ Alexis said uncertainly.

"No, no don't worry about it. Beckett's on the phone with Esposito." He stood and headed towards the kitchen.

_"Alright. Well I figured I should call and check on you since we all know I am the adult and you will probably get yourself into trouble. If you haven't already."_

"Hey! I'll have you know I have been trouble-free for at least five minutes."

_"I'll take you out for ice cream when we get back."_ He could hear the smile in her voice. They talked for several minutes about the trip, and Rick was surprised at how few stories there were about Martha's antics.

At a lull in the conversation, he took the plunge, well aware that his daughter was waiting for an answer from him, despite the fact that she hadn't yet voiced a question. "Listen sweetheart, I have something I want to talk to you about when you get back."

_"What did you do?"_

"Nothing! It's something good, I swear. At least, I hope you'll agree that it's good and be comfortable with it."

_"Does this have anything to do with why you are at Beckett's place?"_

"…Right this instant no. We are working a case."

_"But it has to do with Beckett."_ It was more a statement than a question.

"You are so smart. Yes it does." There was a long pause and his stomach tightened a little. "Alexis?"

_"I'm here, Dad."_

"You okay?"

_"Actually, I am. I know we should still talk, and it will take some getting used to, but I'm okay with it. With whatever is going on. I really like Detective Beckett and I know how much you care about her. If she feels the same way then I am really happy for both of you."_

His breath came out in a rush and he marveled at his daughter's maturity as he always did. "Okay. I wanted you to know, and get your approval."

_"Thanks Dad. I really am happy for you. I just can't believe that I leave you alone for two days and I miss everything."_ The last earned a chuckle from him. _"Hey, I have to go but we'll talk when we get home. You should invite Beckett over for dinner that night, if she is okay with that. Oh, wait! Should I tell Grams?"_

"Uh, hold off on that. I'll pay for it later I know, but I need to help figure out this case, not be interrogated myself."

_"My lips are sealed. I love you!"_

"Love you too pumpkin. Have fun." He walked back towards the living room, spotting Kate stretched out with her eyes closed.

As he moved towards her she lifted her feet so he could sit. "Everything alright on your end?"

He took her feet into his lap, running his fingers over one ankle beneath her pant leg. "I think so. I told Alexis that we should talk when she gets back; she guessed that it was about you."

"How does she feel, do you know?"

"She said she was happy for us. And that she's alright with whatever is going on. She also said I should invite you over for dinner the night they get back."

Kate nodded. "That's sweet of her."

"She's amazing."

"She gets it from her dad."

Kate filled him in on the details of her call and the feeling that they were going to catch hell when they went into the precinct the next day. They lapsed into a companionable silence for a few moments, Rick's fingers tracing patterns along Kate's foot. He inched towards the sole, but her voice stopped him dead. "Keep doing that and you'll be in danger of losing some very important bits." His best innocent face was quelled as she stared him down.

"Spoilsport," he teased. "I will find your ticklish spots."

She raised an eyebrow. "You think you can handle that kind of information about me?"

Rick leaned towards her, confident smile in place. "I know I can."

"We'll see about that," she said calmly before getting up to clear the table.

Kate put everything away in her fridge while Rick washed the glasses, not even jumping when she felt his arms wrap around her as she stood up. She covered his hands with her own as she leaned into the broad chest behind her, closing her eyes when she turned her face into him. He tightened his embrace before placing a kiss to her temple. She laughed when he buried his nose into her hair, breathing deeply.

"You just sniffed me."

"Mm-hmm." She felt his answer rumble through his chest.

"Why?"

"Cherries. It's _you_." He held her to him a little more tightly before stepping away. If he didn't let go now, he wouldn't be able to.

Kate followed him out, watching as he collected his coat. Once he got to her door, she raised up on her toes to kiss him gently, simply brushing her lips across his. "Goodnight Rick," she whispered.

"Goodnight, Kate." He brought their lips together once more before reluctantly moving away. He smiled brightly before turning and disappearing down her hallway.

* * *

On her way to work the next morning, Beckett got the news that their suspect had not only been identified but also picked up on a security camera just a few blocks from the crime scene. She picked it up then headed into the precinct, affording no opportunity for hazing from the guys as she handed over both the camera and tape. "Our creepy dude is Howard Stalka, he was spotted walking into a bar."

They sat down and cued up the footage from that night as Castle strolled in, coffee in hand. The picture was grainy, but they could see Stalka well enough. As they prepared to head out and canvass the area, Ryan's sound of dismay held them up. "Guys, look at the time." He pointed to the screen.

They all reclaimed their seats. The time stamp clearly indicated that it was a quarter to midnight when Stalka appeared in the frame, heading away from the victim's apartment and into the bar. Ryan ran the tape forward, past the estimated time of death, past the original window Lanie had given them, until finally they saw a very intoxicated Stalka emerge around three in the morning. "Damn." Beckett's curse echoed what they all felt.

"So much for having a lead." Esposito grumbled.

"Can't really argue with that alibi." Ryan moved to eject the tape. It was back to square one, and they all knew it.

Absently, Castle reached for the camera and turned it over in his hands, frowning as he fiddled with it. "This thing looks ancient." An idea struck him and he became excited. "Do we know when this was made?"

"I bet I can pull it up." Ryan said. After a minute of checking the serial number, he had it. "It was made in 2005."

"That's it! We have him!"

"How? The footage just gave him an alibi." Beckett's incredulity was evident in her tone of voice.

"It gave him an alibi in 2005."

"Dude, what the hell are you talking about?" Esposito was looking at him like he had grown a third eye.

"Congress made a decision in to change something regarding time in 2007." He waited expectantly. Ryan and Esposito just stared at him, waiting. He turned to Beckett and she didn't disappoint.

"Daylight Savings Time. They extended it one month starting that year." The realization had hit Beckett first.

"Exactly." His smile at her was proud.

"So…what?" Ryan asked.

"Well this camera doesn't have one of those atomic clocks, it's too old, but even those got messed up when everything switched. I have one that still doesn't change times on the new date. Believe me, it can get really confusing."

"The time on the security camera is an hour off; it's Daylight Savings for us now, but it wouldn't have been this same time of the year when the camera was purchased. It would be too early." Beckett became more animated as she was caught up in the excitement, turning to face Castle.

"Exactly. Which means he wasn't going into the bar when this says he was, but rather an hour later."

"And if he wasn't there—"

"—he doesn't have an alibi." They grinned triumphantly at each other, unaware of how close they had gotten during the exchange. A throat cleared to the side and they turned as one to look at Ryan and Esposito. The two Detectives glanced at each other sideways, leaning in conspiratorially.

"I'm kinda starting to think this is like foreplay for them." Esposito stage whispered.

"Hmm. I agree." Ryan paused thoughtfully. "Does that mean it's weird for us to be sitting here watching?"

They looked at Castle and Beckett, who were just realizing their proximity as they turned to look at each other again. Their eyes widened but they didn't move away. "Nah. It's fascinating."

A pair of almost identical sardonic looks was sent their way, to which they simply responded with smirks and a fist bump.

"Alright, you two voyeurs can go get copies of the security footage from any of the cameras on nearby stores. If we have newer ones available that show him walking by at the real time, we can bring him in and see what he was up to. And flash his picture around too, just in case." Beckett smirked.

"Now that's just dirty." Esposito frowned at her, looking a bit disturbed.

"You're telling me! I'm glad I don't live on the ground floor of my building." Castle mock shuddered.

Esposito shot him a glare. "I can hurt you, man."

Ryan opened his mouth to say something but all that came out was an unintelligible grunt, as he tried desperately to shake the images in his head. He wrinkled his nose at the pair who knew they had the last laugh, walking away with his coat as Esposito continued to mutter, grabbing his gun and badge.

He caught up to Ryan as they rounded the corner, stopping him with a nudge to his arm and jerking his head in the direction of their desks.

They leaned back simultaneously, peeking around the wall. Castle and Beckett were in the same place, now facing the murder board. As they watched, the pair turned to look at each other and simply smiled before Beckett nodded and bumped Castle gently with her elbow. He smiled wider and bumped back.

The Detectives continued on, high-fiving as they walked to the elevator.

* * *

_**So I did do some research on Daylight Savings Time and I think I was accurate about how the time changed and the effect that would have. I really do have an "atomic" clock that still won't change over at the proper time, but rather the old time. If it turns out I got it totally wrong, I apologize and I will chalk it up to taking some liberties. (I first came up with the idea during my finals, and even though I have come back to it time and again to double-check, my original idea could have been completely scrambled by a fried brain.)**_

_**The case interfered with the foiling of the bet in this chapter, but Kate's plan will come into play. (So will more of Rick's "research".) The next chapter will feature the showdown, and we'll find out who wins! **_

_**Again I hope you all liked the chapter! Your reviews have been wonderful (crack for authors) so I would love to keep getting your feedback!  
**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's note: Thank you for your lovely reviews! It is awesome to wake up in the morning and see all sorts of messages on my phone for them, story alerts, etc. For those of you who haven't reviewed: I am a lurker as well, and I am just glad you are adding this to your lists. That is a wonderful compliment. (But don't be shy! Let me know what you like, what I could fix, or just whatever you feel!) I really hope people are sticking with the story, because I have enjoyed writing it and sharing it with everyone.**_

_**Usual disclaimer applies. I don't own these characters, no infringement is intended, and all mistakes are my own. Enjoy!**_

* * *

Esposito pulled the car up to a curb just down the street from the bar, in front of a little flower shop. After a quick word with the owner of the shop and the manager from a pharmacy across the street, two more recordings were obtained from the night of the murder. Both were digital, and the camera from the flower shop was brand new, installed just a week previously after a break-in resulted in an entire week's worth of cash being stolen. They headed back across the street to the bar, hoping to catch someone there who might have seen their suspect.

They stepped into the dimly lit building, scanning the space ahead of them. To their surprise, Stalka sat at the bar, nursing what looked like a glass of whiskey. As they stepped up on either side of him, he briefly looked towards each of them in turn before trying to ease off of his stool, but Ryan stepped in front of him, badge raised.

"Detective Ryan. You're Howard Stalka?"

"Who wants to know?" The man stood barely taller than Ryan and had a thin, pointed face with small eyes that were reminiscent of a rodent's. He was searching desperately for an escape route and refused to make eye contact.

"The NYPD. We have a few questions for you." He turned to face Esposito, sizing him up.

"I ain't talking to no cops, I don't have to." He made to push past Esposito but was stopped by a firm grip on his arm.

"We're Detectives investigating a homicide. So yeah, actually, you do. Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way; your choice." He saw the fist coming and deflected it enough so Stalka's momentum carried him into the hard edge of the bar, knocking him breathless. Ryan pulled his arms behind his back none-too-gently and cuffed him.

"Nice going, genius. Assaulting an officer is a great way to start the day, and we've already got you in our sights for murder. Let's go." Ryan hauled him up by his collar and he and Esposito escorted him out to the car, reading him his rights as they went.

* * *

"Look who we found. Care to do the honors?" Ryan called as they rounded the corner of the bullpen a half hour later with Stalka in tow.

"Well that was quick," Castle watched as a uniform led the man towards the interrogation rooms. "Where was he?"

"In the same bar he was seen going to the other night. I guess it's five o'clock somewhere, right?" Esposito held out his hand so Castle could feed the birds. He obliged with a smirk.

"How much has he had to drink?" Beckett asked.

"Not enough to be legally intoxicated, he blew a point oh-two. I don't even think he got through a full drink. We read him his rights. He said he doesn't need a lawyer." Ryan set his gun and badge down at his desk.

Castle turned to him. "Did you get any other footage?"

"Yeah, here." Ryan dug the disks out of his pocket. "Got two—one from a place down the street that had its camera trained on the sidewalk, the other across the street from that, might have caught him too."

"Alright, nice job. Let him stew for a while so we can check these out." Beckett popped the first disk into the player.

Sure enough, both cameras had caught him, the pharmacy at 12:43 and the flower shop at 12:44. Though they didn't have anything from the bar itself, the two corroborating cameras would allow them to pin the guy down.

"Okay. Print me out some stills and we can nail him for this." Ryan nodded and selected a couple of clear shots.

"Do we have the DNA yet?" Esposito asked.

"No we don't. Lanie said it could be about 24 hours and we're coming up on that."

"Until we get the results this won't be much, then. Even with a witness to the altercation, the tapes only show him several blocks away from the scene after James was murdered just like a number of other people. He'll say it's a coincidence." Castle stated glumly.

"I don't believe in coincidence. And he doesn't know we don't have the DNA back yet." Beckett smirked at the look on Castle's face, taking the stills from Ryan and the files off of her desk before heading down the hall with an excited Castle rushing after her.

* * *

"Mr. Stalka I'm Detective Kate Beckett, this is Richard Castle, we need to ask you a few questions." Tossing a file down onto the table, Beckett took her usual seat in the interrogation room.

"Whoo, look at this. You are so much better looking than the pair I talked to. You uh, single Detective Beckett?"

"I'm the one asking questions here, not you Mr. Stalka." She said brusquely.

"How does a fine thing like you get to be so uptight? Bet I could help with that." His leer was downright repulsive, but the Detective in her remained unfazed.

"I would stop right there if I were you." Castle quipped as he took his own seat.

"Well you ain't me." Stalka spat back, giving Castle a sneer.

"Thank God for that." The mumbled reply didn't go unnoticed.

"'Scuse me? No way you're a cop. You dress too nice. So why the hell are you here?"

"It's 'nicely', and I'm a consultant."

Stalka looked back and forth between Beckett and Castle, noticing that his statement wasn't refuted. "Oh I get it, you hooking up with him huh?" He pointed a grubby finger in Castle's direction then snorted. "Watch out, man, she probably won't stick around long. Bet she's screwing someone behind your back."

"Watch your mouth." Castle practically growled.

"Or what?" He turned back to Beckett. "Come on baby, how 'bout you and me go out sometime, ditch the old guy?"

She didn't even glance his way. "I'm not your baby and you aren't my type." His demeanor suddenly changed at her words, hostility radiating from him. His face had taken on a mottled red color and he clenched his jaw in anger. As he turned his head away, Beckett continued. "Now, where were you two nights ago around midnight?"

"I'm not answering. Bitch." Castle straightened beside Beckett, making her glance his way and shake her head almost imperceptibly.

"Answer the question." Her tone was one of deliberate boredom.

"Suck my—"

Castle was moving before she could even think 'don't do anything stupid'. He slammed his hands onto the table and glowered inches from the guy's face, forcing him to lean away. She knew she could intimidate, but there was something about Castle's sheer size that gave him an edge. He leaned in farther, and Stalka's eyes crossed slightly to keep him in focus.

"I warned you once, and I won't tell you again. You had better watch your mouth in here and respect the good Detective who could kick your ass from here to Mars and back. Say anything else stupid and I'll bring in the other two detectives you met, and then the four of us will go have a nice little chat in a dark alley. Do we have an understanding?" Beckett internally groaned at the melodramatic threat, but she couldn't deny that it had the desired effect as Stalka nodded his head so hard and fast she thought it would bounce off of his shoulders.

"Good man." Castle's false smile was dangerous looking as he reclaimed his seat, stretching his legs and reveling in the twitch he saw in the rat-faced man across the table as he tried to avoid him.

"Castle, can I speak to you outside for a moment?" Beckett asked quietly before she stood and headed to the door without waiting.

He closed the door behind them as they stepped into the hall. "Before you start, can I just say something?" Hands up in supplication, Castle backed up to keep an arm's length between himself and the woman he suspected was about to become his hell on heels.

"What?" She drew the word out slowly and quietly, and he knew he was in trouble.

"Apples." His face was begging her for some mercy. She wasn't really angry with him, but making him squirm was something she enjoyed doing at every possible opportunity.

"Relax, Castle, I'm not going to touch you. However—"

"I know, I know: you're a cop, you get it all the time, and you don't need someone fighting your battles."

"You're right." His face fell slightly. "I _am_ a cop and you _know_ I get it all the time because you've heard it yourself. But I thought what you did was kind of sweet."

"You did?" The surprise on his face gave way to a bemused smile.

"I did. It doesn't mean it should become a regular thing, because the suspects need to know they can't get to me, but every once in a while it's nice to have someone defend your honor."

"Understood. I just couldn't sit there and let him say those things, regardless of our current...status. It made my skin crawl."

"Believe me; it has the same effect on me sometimes. Bubble baths are a nice solution."

"I'll have to try it sometime. I bet sharing would make an even better solution." His eyes danced with mischief and she rolled hers in response to hide her smile.

"Only if you're very lucky, Castle." Her response caused him to blink in surprise. Capitalizing on his momentary speechlessness, she moved into his personal space bringing their faces to within inches of each other. "Oh, and you going all alpha male in there? It was sexy."

Castle's devilish smirk was in place as she stepped away, but he smoothed it out as she turned back towards the door. "Do you want me to wait in there?" He indicated Observation with his thumb.

She looked through the window at the suspect as he moved restlessly in his chair. "Nope, you can come back. As long as you behave."

"I will if he does."

"Uh-huh. I think you scared him there, Conan."

"Ooh, does that mean you can be Red Sonja?" To his great disappointment, Beckett ignored his comment, simply turning away to go back into the interrogation room.

Beckett tossed photos of James Doucette onto the table as she resumed her seat. "This man was murdered two nights ago. We have a witness who saw you get into a confrontation with him prior to that." She laid out the pictures Ryan had printed. "These photos show you coming from the direction of his apartment and headed into a bar, shortly before one o'clock the morning he was murdered. That bar is within easy walking distance of what became our crime scene."

"Do you know what this means?" Castle folded his hands on the table as he spoke, watching Stalka intently, who sat there in silence.

"What were you doing in this neighborhood Mr. Stalka? According to your records, you don't live near there." More silence greeted her, so she decided to push him. "Here's the thing: we already know where you were and what you were doing. You were at this man's apartment building and you killed him. We have your DNA and your fingerprints. We have a witness who saw you arguing with him prior to the incident. Your life will be a little bit easier if you just confess right now." She braced her forearms on the table, fixing him with an intense stare that made him fidgety. She watched as he bit his nails and tried to surreptitiously wipe the sweat from his upper lip.

She leaned in and lowered her voice. "Why did you do it?"

"Nobody talks to me that way." His outburst was sudden and accompanied by a flash of the anger he had already displayed. "He poked his nose in my business and tried to tell me what to do. I don't like it when people talk to me like I'm stupid or somethin'."

"Did you return to his building to tell him that?" Castle glanced sideways to Beckett, eyebrows raised, and received a nonplussed look in return.

"Yeah, I came back to scare him a little with the rope, tell him where he could shove it and he kept offering to help me and shit. He told me that whatever I was planning wasn't right, I could turn my life around. Like he was so much better than me or some kind of frickin' savior. I just wanted him to shut the hell up and back off."

"And when he didn't shut up, you decided to do it for him. Then you left him hanging there as what, an example?" Beckett tried to keep her lip from curling in disgust, but some of her contempt leaked into her tone of voice and Stalka looked at her sharply.

"Damn straight. He had it comin' to him. And I would do it again." His voice had gone completely cold , and the thought crossed Beckett's mind that the defense would try to pull the 'unfit to stand trial due to mental defect or disability' card; with the way the man's temper ebbed and flowed he came across as somewhat unstable.

She slid a pen and pad of paper across to him. "You're going to need a lawyer now Mr. Stalka, because if you stop and think for a minute, you'll realize you just confessed." His face changed several times from surprise to rage to panic, and as Beckett stood, resting her fingertips on the table and lowering her head so it was level with his, she allowed a malicious smile to tug at the corner of her mouth. "Enjoy prison, you bastard," she snarled. She turned on her heel and strode out, passing the officer who would be taking Stalka to the cages.

She and Castle exited the room, meeting Ryan and Esposito as they came out of Observation.

"Nice bluff, Beckett." Ryan grinned.

"This guy has no remorse. The bartender confirmed he was there until last call, laughing and joking away. He even tried to chat some woman up, got really angry when she said no but backed off when another guy stepped in." Esposito sounded about as appalled as Beckett felt.

"Interesting. He's quick to anger, but as soon as someone gets in his face he slinks away with his tail between his legs." Castle said.

"He's all bark." As Ryan spoke, Stalka was led away in handcuffs to the holding cells.

"Unfortunately for James, he had one good bite." Though they had caught their guy, and incredibly quickly, Beckett still felt the weight of what she had to do next settle in her stomach. "And all James was doing was offering to help. I'll call Allison, let her know we got the guy. It won't be much consolation, but I hope it helps a little."

The Detectives returned to their desks, Ryan and Esposito to start on their paperwork. Castle followed Beckett back, grabbing his suit jacket.

"You going somewhere, Castle?" Beckett teased lightly.

"I thought I would pick up lunch for everyone. What sounds good to you?"

"That would be great. How about Thai? There's that new place a few blocks from here we've been talking about."

"Thai it is then. Hey guys, what do you want from that new Thai place?" Castle took orders from them, Beckett, and Montgomery. He headed out with a wave, saving their orders on his phone.

* * *

A little over twenty minutes later, the caller ID on Beckett's cell phone showed a picture of Castle with a goofy look on his face, which she had taken without him noticing after he lost a slap war with Esposito. "Hey Castle."

His response was unexpected to say the least. _"What are you wearing?"_

"My badge." She deadpanned.

_"And nothing else? Detective, I'm surprised at you. I suspected you had a kink but that wasn't what I had in mind."_

"You have issues."

_"Oh you don't know the half of it."_

"That's what I'm afraid of," she sighed dramatically. "What's up?"

_"I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with me tonight. Since all you have left is paperwork I figured it would be a nice way to celebrate the closing of another case."_

"I'd like that" She smiled and idly played with a lock of hair, not yet aware of the two pairs of eyes watching her closely.

_"Excellent. Where would you like to go, milady?" _The affected air of his voice almost got her laughing, but she looked up directly into Ryan and Esposito's gazes and she smoothed down her mask.

She turned her chair away from them and their prying ears, lowering her voice. "How about we stay in and cook something? Your place?" She felt her heart rate increase and her stomach flutter in anticipation.

After a brief pause and what she was sure was a muffled shout of _'Yes!' _followed by squealing tires and a hasty apology, Castle finally replied and she released a breath she didn't realize she was holding. _"Sounds perfect. I'm headed back now and I hope you're hungry because I ended up getting a little of everything."_

"How far away are you?"

_"Maybe five minutes."_

"Perfect. I'm going to make a call and gather the troops. I think it's high time we blow the bet wide open."

She could hear the glee in Castle's voice as he said his goodbye. Once she hung up her cell, she called Lanie. "Hey, Lanie could I trouble you to bring me the autopsy report for the Dalton case? The appeal is coming up and I want to get started on reviewing it."

"_Sure girl, give me a couple of minutes and I'll be there."_

"Great, thanks a lot."

Castle was right on time, depositing a veritable mountain of food for all of them when he arrived. Before they could start digging in, Lanie arrived and Beckett stood to meet her. "I'm going to grab a drink, walk with me?" She headed towards the break room, stopping as she reached the doorway. "Alright, refresh my memory. Ryan, Esposito this is for you guys too." They followed her, slightly bewildered. As soon as they were in the door, Castle did a quick survey of the rest of the room and brought up the rear quietly.

Lanie had begun to cover some of the main points from the case file when Esposito stopped her, confused. "Wait, this is the Dalton case?"

"Yeah, why?" Lanie glared at him for interrupting her.

"The review for it isn't up for…" An ominous click sounded behind them and they turned to see Castle blocking the now closed door.

"…another few months." Ryan finished quietly.

"So, gentlemen and lady." Castle crossed his hands in front of him, standing tall and staring at the three of them.

"We have a few questions we'd like to ask you." Their heads whipped back to the opposite side of the room where Beckett crossed her arms and jutted a hip in a casual stance. "What exactly was the bet you had going?"

"Bet? What bet?" Ryan laughed weakly.

"Oh, I think you know." Castle gave him a knowing smile.

"Mmm, sorry. No clue what you're talking about." Esposito shook his head.

"Once we figured out what you were doing, it was only a matter of figuring out why and how to turn it around on you." Beckett stated. She turned to her left and paced slowly towards the other end of the room. As she got nearer to the door, Castle turned to his left and took up her previous position.

"What was the bet?" Castle repeated.

"Honey, did you get hit in the head or something? We don't know what you're going on about." Lanie tried for the innocent look, but lost some of her cool as her best friend passed directly behind her and the Writer-Monkey went by in the opposite direction. She and the guys turned so they had their backs to each other, warily watching the two with the distinct impression of being trapped in a shark tank.

Questions were fired back and forth, randomly at each of the three in the center to see who would crack first. They looked back and forth between their interrogators as they tried to keep up with the verbal tennis match. Without any warning, chaos erupted in the middle of the room as the "suspects" turned on each other and began to argue heatedly, accusations of who blew it flying back and forth. Beckett stood back and watched for a moment before she circled again, signaling Castle with her eyes to stay put by the door. She moved to stand next to him and leaned in to speak. "Not exactly part of the plan, but I'll go with it."

"Now what?" He asked, amused.

She wrapped her arm around his waist and he froze momentarily in surprise, before putting his arm around her shoulders. They had been very careful about showing anything different in their relationship while working, and he reveled in the chance to show his affection for her instead of keeping it a secret. "Let's see how long it takes for them to notice." With that she leaned into him and pressed a gentle kiss to the corner of his mouth. She grinned at the way his eyes became saucers before he simply shrugged and angled his head to capture her lips with his own.

It didn't take long before total silence reigned in the room. Beckett opened her eyes and glanced sideways slyly, exceedingly pleased by the gob smacked expressions that greeted her. She planted a last, quick kiss to Castle's lips as he realized they had an audience.

"Are you guys done yet?" The question came from Esposito, but the playful gleam in his eyes belied the snarky tone of his voice.

"That was just for show-and-tell." Castle tightened his arm around Beckett as he spoke, grinning like an idiot.

"Well, we certainly got the 'show' part of it." Lanie said slowly, eyes narrowed in Beckett's direction and intimating that severe bodily harm was imminent.

"What's the 'tell'?" Ryan asked, crossing his arms and squaring up to them.

"What was the bet?" Beckett shot back.

"Come on, you guys already know, we can see that." He replied, exasperated.

"Yeah we do, but it's more fun to make you say it." Esposito snorted at Castle's comment, but when nobody spoke up, he, Lanie and Ryan began to squirm a bit under piercing gazes of almost bright green and blue.

Beckett turned her face to Castle. "Do you think we should put them out of their misery?"

"Hmm. I guess so. I mean we like them, right?"

"Sometimes." She shrugged.

They turned back and spoke in unison. "We kissed."

"Duh," Lanie chimed in.

"After we left the bar the other night," Beckett clarified.

"And we know you were competing for who got us to talk first."

They waited, then: "So, who won?" Castle asked innocently.

"I'm going to guess none of us did." Montgomery had managed to sneak in behind them and Castle jumped a little in Beckett's embrace, a fact not lost on anyone else in the room. They turned to face the man who now occupied the doorway, arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

"Sir." Beckett nodded respectfully, reflexively clenching her hand into a fist that she tapped nervously against her thigh. She hadn't expected Roy to be involved, though in retrospect she supposed she should have considered it. They stared at each other for several long moments, before a smile finally lit up the Captain's face.

He stepped forward and embraced her in a rare outward display of affection, whispering into her hair "It's about damn time."

She huffed out a laugh before they let go of each other and he turned to Castle. They clasped hands before Montgomery leveled a somewhat threatening look at the man before him, and said "If you hurt her, you answer to us."

Castle gulped audibly, but before he could offer his assurances Roy chuckled and clapped a hand to his shoulder. "Your face; I just couldn't resist."

Soon they had all joined in the laughter and left the break room to claim their food. After several minutes of joking and eating, Lanie spoke around a mouthful of stolen chicken curry from Esposito.

"So, does that mean you guys are—you know—together?" She watched as a silent communication took place, Beckett's look of complete surprise as she watched Castle, his unusually calm reaction as he offered her a shrug and an almost serene smile as reassurance in return, before he nodded and deferred to her to answer.

She took a deep breath in, eyes locked on his as she reached for his hand. She smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess it does."

"I'm happy for you. I'm going to kill _you_," Lanie pointed a scolding finger at her best friend, "but I am happy for you both. And the Captain is right: it's about damn time!" With a wave, she headed back to her lab.

Beckett laughed and shook her head, clearing the empty containers from her desk and shutting down her computer for the evening. "Alright guys, go home. We'll get a fresh start Monday as long as no bodies drop. And be advised: I am giving you the weekend to come up with all of the horrible jokes, questions, and hazing you can to get it out of your system. After Monday, one word out of you and you're both going to be walking around here in dresses for a month."

"Provided she doesn't make you a case file for the 12th first." Castle tilted his head playfully.

"You got it, boss." Ryan's impish smile told her that Monday morning would require at least two massive cups of coffee before she ever got in to work. Even Castle pulled a face in response, looking over his shoulder nervously as he walked with her out of the precinct.

"Check the pool for who had the date closest to Tuesday." Esposito pulled on his jacket as he prepared to leave.

"With how our luck has been going, it won't be either of us. You know, if Beckett finds out about this one, we're dead."

"Speak for yourself, if that happens I'm getting the Hell out of here."

"What, and not taking me? That's cold, man."

"Fine, I'll take you. That way you can't come back to haunt me for leaving you behind to suffer."

"Gee, thanks. You're a real pal."

"I know. Let's go play Halo. We'll have to go to my place since Castle's gonna be _busy_." He said the last in a singsong voice

"Dude, that's like talking about our parents," he wrinkled his nose as he pulled out his phone. "I'll let Jenny know."

"You do that, Honey-Milk."

* * *

**Ahhh, I was so close! I tried to have this posted for you guys between my classes today while trying to avoid the 113 degree temps outside (but alas, I was distracted by more Castle fanfic). No joke, friends, 113. I am sure many of you are familiar with such heat, and you know how much it sucks. I would like to thank the state of Arizona for welcoming us all back to campus with open arms…and apparently an open oven door. **

**Next chapter needs some tweaking, I'm in the process of converting it to story form instead of just notes. I am hoping to get it out reasonably soon. I have a lighter load of units at my university here this semester thanks to how many I took on every semester prior, but I am taking an additional course off campus that has yet to show me how obnoxious it will be. I have a weird sense (and sincerely hope) that for once in my college career I will have a semester course load that will be enjoyable and—dare I say—unusually light on stressing to the point of tears. So: fingers crossed that I will actually have a life! And uh, get most of this finished before the season premiere. See you soon!  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**_Author's note: Thank you so much to those of you who have reviewed! And thank you to the lurkers who keep making me smile with your alert subscriptions! I love getting your feedback and I am glad you are enjoying this. To reviewer "N": I do agree with you, I think Alexis certainly has opinions about the situation that she hasn't yet shared. I am a daddy's girl, and I have an idea of how I want to deal with her reaction. Look for that in the next chapter!_**

**_Be advised that the rating has gone up. Adult situations lay before you ;)_**

**_Chapter notes: Believe it or not, the notes and a majority of the dialogue for this chapter were in a document and fleshed out right after I finished the first chapter of this story. I'm quite happy I got to use this actually…it is sexy fun that I hope you all enjoy. One very small part though comes from the Castle "Advice" video that recently popped up. It was so darn sexy that I had to find a way to use it. Luckily for me, it fit in perfectly! (It's got to be the new favorite Caskett shipper video…seriously.)_**

**_The usual disclaimer applies: I do not own any characters thus no infringement is intended, but the ideas and all mistakes are my own. Enjoy!_**

* * *

At Rick's apartment, they fixed a simple dinner together of salad, French bread, rotini pasta with a tomato and basil cream sauce and a semi-sweet sparkling white wine Rick had tucked away. As they cleaned up the dishes and leftovers, he suggested they play a game. Kate's eyebrows crept towards her hairline as she looked up from drying a plate. "A game?" Her tone was incredulous.

"Yeah, why not? I still haven't gotten you to play laser tag with me yet."

"That's because I'll kick your ass."

"Hey! Don't be so quick to assume, Detective. I'll have you know that Alexis is quite a formidable opponent and we've been playing since she was big enough to carry the gun."

"Well at some point we may all have to play and we'll both kick your ass."

"Fine. I'll just have to find another way to show you—_again_ may I remind you—that I'm not as bad a shot as you might think. Oh, I know! I just got a new dart board!"

"Different kind of aim there, Rick. Why did you have to replace the old dart board?"

"One too many missed deadlines had Gina jumping down my throat on the phone every ten minutes one night. So I put a picture of her up there and got a little…overzealous…with working out my frustration."

"You broke a dartboard because of your ex-wife. I have a vivid picture of that in my mind now, and I can honestly say I have never heard that one before."

Rick shrugged as if to say 'you're welcome' before walking to a table in the living room and grabbing two sets of darts from within its drawer.

"I haven't done this in ages, I'll be so out of practice." Kate said as he approached.

"Who needs practice? Come on! Let go, let loose, act silly. Let that hair down." She raised an eyebrow at him and glanced pointedly at the long brunette tresses trailing over her shoulder. "Figuratively speaking," he amended. "You don't need to practice for everything; you can't be good at all of it, that's no fun."

"Oh, but I firmly believe that practice makes perfect," she purred. She leaned into him and lightly trailed her finger down his arm. "Lots and lots of practice." With a quick move she snagged the darts and stepped away grinning.

"Whew. I was right, you are a tease." Rick pouted.

Back turned, Kate spoke under her breath: "You have no idea."

While she was still turned away, Rick snuck up behind her and wrapped his left forearm low across her hips, running his right hand down her arm to close it over her own hand holding the darts as she straightened in surprise. He nudged the back of her left knee until it bent and she had to scoot it forward to maintain her balance, feeling his breath and the brush of his stubble on the back of her neck as he leaned in to nuzzle the side of her neck. She tilted her head almost involuntarily to give him the access, releasing a long sigh as goose bumps erupted in the wake of his talented lips. He brought their hands up as if he intended to throw the dart with her. "Just. Like. This." He punctuated each word with a kiss to her pulse point. "Remember now?" was whispered into her hair, just behind her ear.

"Strangely, no; I don't remember this being standard in a darts game." She gave herself a mental high five for managing to sound normal in the face of his oral onslaught.

"Then you have a lot to learn, and I will happily be your teacher." He lowered their hands and stepped away completely, leaving her to sway slightly before realizing she no longer had a solid body to lean on. She looked over her shoulder at where he was now standing several feet away and narrowed her eyes. The challenge in them was clear and the corner of her mouth quirked as he accepted it with a nod.

"Alright then, Writer-Man: how do we want to play this?"

"Modified around the world. You have to hit the numbers—in order—to advance. Like if I hit and you miss, I get the points. So if you miss the first one and I hit it, I get 100. If you miss again, I get another 100 points. And so on."

"Okay, I'm familiar with that one. Are we aiming for the double and triple rings?"

"Ooh, someone's confident. I don't know; do you want to use them?"

"Nah, let's stick with singles. We can leave the double and triple rings for later if we want."

"Ladies first." He gestured to the board and stepped back while Kate squared up and took aim. She moved her arm in a sure, easy motion that spoke of experience. Rick watched, slightly nervous as a moment of doubt entered his mind. The dart hit with a soft _thunk_.

He leaned towards the board and saw that the dart had missed slightly. "One hundred points for me," he teased. Kate's cheeks flared a light pink. She fired off her next two darts in rapid succession, finding both marks easily. She retrieved them and stepped away, staring holes into the side of Rick's head as he moved into position.

He winked at her before throwing his darts, getting the first and second, but missing the third. "100 points for me," she teased back.

Kate hit four, five and six handily. Rick missed three once more before finally getting both it and number four. Kate missed eight twice, getting stuck at seven while he managed a clean round to catch up with her. After they both had clean rounds to remain tied, Rick paused, thinking.

"Let's make it more interesting." The mischief in his eyes should have warned her, but she wasn't one to back down.

"What would you like to wager?"

"Money? Twenty dollars a miss."

"I'm a cop, not on my salary. And just a couple of bucks is hardly worth it."

"Drinks then. I have tequila I'm sure; a shot for every miss?"

"Drinking and darts, Rick? There are no disasters I don't foresee happening. Besides, I bet you were just waiting to get me into your place with a bottle of tequila since you wrote that chapter in _Heat Wave_."

He pretended to think her statement over before giving her a devious look. "Oh, before I had it written, actually." She smiled and rolled her eyes "Well, perhaps not, then." Suddenly, inspiration struck. Kate had a funny feeling she wasn't going to like it. "I know what we can do to make it _really_ interesting. It's not expensive, and it won't lead to darts stuck in places that would be difficult to explain to the emergency room."

"And what exactly is that?" She asked, feigning boredom.

He looked her over. "How awkward is it to stand on just one heel?"

"...what?" All she got in response was him staring at her with a suggestive smirk as he scanned his eyes down her frame once more.

Her jaw dropped in horror before she snapped it shut, eyes narrowed. She stepped forward into his personal space, almost toe to toe. "I hope you wore an extra layer." With that, the game resumed.

Kate missed her first shot, groaned, and rolled up her pant leg to reveal a calf-high black leather heel. She unzipped it and stepped out, tossing it towards the couch and out of the way. Rick's mouth had gone dry as she had slowly undone the boot, coming back to the present when he heard a _thunk_ and a curse a moment later. She had missed again. He simply stared at her, smirking. As she flushed under his regard she mumbled something about her balance being off, then hit her target at last.

Rick didn't move to take his place immediately and Kate cleared her throat.

"What?" She asked.

"You look adorable," he replied with a smile, his nod indicating her sock-clad feet and the pants that were now a little too long. She smiled slightly in return and waved her hand to indicate the board.

After several more rounds, they were both ready to shoot for the double bull. Rick was down to funny boxers that had caused a number of embarrassing questions from Kate when she saw them and an undershirt. Kate was still in her jeans but had just lost her shirt to reveal a camisole, something Rick was disappointed to see.

"Seriously, another shirt? How many do you need?"

"It's called layering. Besides, you have an undershirt and this is essentially the same thing."

"But you got to keep your pants!"

"Well, you made the mistake of taking off your jacket."

"I was warm! And you had one too."

"This is all lightweight. The jacket was way too heavy, and I only need it when I'm outside. Are we outside?"

He grumbled. "No."

"And If I had that, I would still pretty much be appropriately dressed. So, don't complain."

"Fine. This has provided me with further insight into the world of women though. And it explains why Alexis buys five of the same type of tank top in different colors."

"Yep. You can come up with a couple dozen outfits doing that."

Just as Kate was about to take her throw, Rick called out. "Double or nothing. The one who misses loses it all."

She looked at him sideways, considering. "You're on."

They both had to shoot for the bull one after the other. After Rick threw his dart they walked up and leaned in almost cheek to cheek. "We _both_ missed." He said in disbelief. Sure enough, both darts were sitting just to the outside of the red bulls-eye.

"Shut the front door." They looked at each other, then back to the board.

"Well I guess we go again." They backed up and threw. They both hit.

"Again." Kate said. They both hit again.

"Again." Two _thunks_ were followed by: "I'm going to need a drink." Rick headed towards the kitchen where the bottle of wine still sat on the counter.

Kate collected the darts. "What's wrong, Rick? Afraid of showing a little skin?" She held the tips of the darts up to her lips and blew across them as she followed him into the kitchen. Rick poured two generous glasses, offering one to Kate. She sidled up close to him as he took a sip and pinned him against the counter. Her slender fingers curled around the glass and brushed against his as she took it from him. She took a long sip, staring at him over the rim; he took an even longer one.

A drop collected on his lower lip, and Kate rose up on her toes. She kissed his top lip, looking at him through her lashes as her tongue darted out to catch the alcohol, pulling his lip between both of hers. Quite suddenly she backed to the opposite counter, drink in hand and a smirk on her lips. Rick was momentarily frozen. He mock glared in response to her smirk, straightening to his full height and fixing her with an intense stare. "Katherine Beckett, you are playing a very dangerous game."

His low voice sent shivers down her spine. He casually but deliberately stalked towards her until he had backed her fully against the counter with only a whisper of breath between them, setting his glass on the counter behind her. He removed hers from her grip and planted his arms on either side of her so that she was ensnared between them, looming above her now that she was without her trusty heels. The tables had turned. "The question isn't whether _I_ am afraid of a little skin, Detective Beckett. The question is: are you?"

Kate could feel every word as a hot breath on her face. She caressed the side of his face with her hand, ran it down his neck to grip his shoulder, rubbed her nose against his and whispered: "If you really want to know then I guess you'll have to catch me." In a quick move, she squeezed out from between him and the counter, darting towards the living room.

On the way past the couch, she grabbed a handful of clothing, throwing one article at him over her shoulder and hitting him square in the face as he followed her. She realized after the fact that it was her own shirt she threw and that she was currently holding his. She pulled it on anyway and continued her head-on sprint through the loft.

She ran through the den and into his bedroom, laughing, but skidded to a halt as she realized she had no place else to go; if she hid in the bathroom all he would have to do is wait outside the door, and that was just dumb to begin with. She was trapped.

"Oh shit." Her mind jumped to the illogical conclusion that this was _Castle_; surely he must have a secret passage or hideaway tucked around the room somewhere. She had no time to look though, the sound of him coming up behind her making her turn around. His cocky grin was in place as he leaned casually against the doorframe.

"You know, if you wanted to get me alone in my bedroom, all you had to do was ask." He advanced a couple of steps into the room before closing the door behind him. With every step forward he took, she took one back.

"You got me: my plan all along was to lure you in here." She was still smiling as she purposely backed herself towards a corner by the head of his king-sized bed, drawing him in. "I just didn't think it would be quite so _easy!_" As he lunged for her, she jumped onto the bed and made a dash for the door. She got her hand around the handle, but his arms wrapped around her from behind and lifted her easily away. She couldn't help the surprised yelp that came out as she was hauled backwards onto the bed.

He nuzzled the ticklish spot on her neck and she tried to wriggle out of his embrace before she embarrassed herself by giggling, but the next thing she knew his hands had enveloped her waist and were poking and pinching her until she was a squirming mass of breathless laughter.

"Ha! Found another one!" He was laughing with her, thoroughly enjoying this new type of game with her.

"You cheated with the first!" She barely got the sentence out of her mouth through great gulps of air.

"Fine, then 'Ha, found one!'" His face was lit up by his smile while he watched her. As a result, he was caught completely unaware when she attacked his ribcage with agile fingers.

A squeal that sounded remarkably like that of a little girl had Kate dissolving once again into a fit of hilarity. "How did you know?" He demanded.

"I'm a Detective, it's what I do."

"Well that's just-ah! No! Nonono not there!" Her fingers were back and he couldn't get out of her grip as she flipped them over so she was above him, reducing him to a puddle of helplessness. She sprawled across him as they both shook with laughter.

After several minutes they had calmed down enough to become aware of their position in relation to each other. Rick brushed the hair back from Kate's face, taking in the flushed cheeks and bright eyes. She studied him as well, watching as the incredible blue of his eyes began to darken, though the glint in them remained dazzling.

"I seem to remember a wager being placed on the darts game." Kate looked pointedly at his t-shirt.

"I think we may have moved past that point." He smirked.

"You still lost."

"Somehow I can't bring myself to care." He stared pointedly at the place their chests came into contact, and the exposed cleavage he had a lovely view of. He brought his eyes back up to her mouth to see the vivid white of her teeth standing out against the full red of her lower lip as she worried the soft flesh. Pink flashed suddenly as her tongue wet her lips, and he was captivated by the motion and the sheen left in its wake.

"Rick." It came as a low rumble in her throat, sexy enough in and of itself, but in combination with the shape of her mouth as it drew out his first name, it was a sensory experience that he knew he was going to ask her to repeat as often as possible.

She sat up and moved so she straddled his lap, satisfied when his eyes nearly popped out of his head and jumped to meet her own.

"That shirt looks better on you than it ever did on me." He rumbled.

She picked at the fabric, running her fingers lightly from the collar to the waist. "I don't know, I'm rather fond of this shirt. It brings out your eyes and fits you like a glove. I always wondered if what was underneath was really as good as it seemed. Now I know."

"Know what?" He choked out.

"That it's even better."

"Well it definitely has just become my favorite shirt. But as much as I love it on you, I would love it more off of you."

"I think that could be arranged." The look she gave him was pure seduction as she slowly pulled the flaps of the shirt aside.

The strangled groan he responded with made her chuckle. He flipped them over suddenly, and the shirt fell open as she lay beneath him, hair fanned out around her on the pillows. "I'm going to have this thing framed," his hands slid along her collarbones to her shoulders as he pushed it off of her. Her pants and camisole joined both of his shirts somewhere on the floor as he quickly divested her of all but the last layer of clothing.

The thin layer of his boxer shorts did little to conceal the growing erection she could feel against her hip, and she grinned against his mouth as she thought about her next move. With a leg hooked behind his, she shoved his opposite shoulder and rolled them again, moving down his body before he had quite registered what happened.

She ran her tongue down the hollow of his throat, leaving a wet trail towards his pecs. As one hand toyed with the right side, her mouth and tongue worked on the left, trailing kisses, soft nips and licks across towards his nipple. Her hot mouth closed over it, swiping the flat of her tongue against the puckered flesh then blowing a stream of cool air over it. Rick let out a shuddering breath above her. She moved her attention to the other side before crawling slowly down his body, feeling the heat of her goal against her abdomen. As she reached it, she slid Rick's shorts off and tossed them away, then took him firmly into her hand and lifted her head; His eyes were almost black as he looked down at her, his mouth an open 'o' of astonishment. She held his gaze, smiling as she stroked his shaft and flicked her tongue against the head once, twice, before closing her lips fully over the tip and sucking.

His head flopped back against the pillows and her laugh hummed through him, causing him to thrust involuntarily towards her. She didn't balk, but held him down with a forearm as she traced patterns with her tongue along the base of his shaft, then took him into her mouth as far as she could, sucking hard on the way back up. She teased the tip of him before descending again, repeating the motion several times and doing something absolutely wicked with her tongue on the downward motion that had him quickly approaching incoherence.

He urged her back up with gentle but insistent hands. "If you keep that up, this will be over a whole lot sooner than I want it to be." His mouth moved along her jaw to her ear, and he cradled her against him as he rolled the opposite direction she had taken him. It was his turn to unravel her a little, and he began by peeling off the last of her clothing, staring in awe as each new inch of skin was revealed to him.

His attention to her breasts was akin to worship; each received the undivided attention of his very skilled hands, and Kate had begun to pant even before his mouth touched her. When it finally did, her breathy sigh was one of relief, and she clenched her fingers in his hair, anchoring him. The heat of his mouth was everywhere, and her nipples had tightened to the point that even the lightest swipe of his tongue was sending jolts down to her core.

She slowly became aware that his head was no longer where she wanted it to be, but rather traveling down her body. As it registered, she got his attention by tightening the grip of her legs around his torso and tugging gently on his hair. He looked up. "Rick, you don't have to do that." His expression was puzzled, so she tried to clarify. "Really, it's not a big deal. I didn't do that for you because I expected reciprocation." In truth, she was indifferent towards that particular activity, since she never had a guy who could do it well enough for her to enjoy it.

Something in her expression must have clued Rick in because he smiled knowingly, then became quite confident. "Just let me do this, Kate. I'll make it worth your while." He held up a hand as she opened her mouth to protest. "And I want to." Without a word, she settled back against the pillows, parting her legs to allow him to move again. He sat up and simply stared at her, open before him, for several moments. Kate couldn't believe it, but the look in his eyes as he took her in caused a surge of wetness to her core. She had no idea if he noticed, but as he ran his hands slowly from her feet all the way up to her inner thighs, she ceased caring and allowed him to urge her legs wider.

She closed her eyes when she felt his breath against her hip, his lips following the fingers that danced their way towards her center. He parted her folds and placed a kiss there, tongue darting out to taste her. His fingers began to move within her, stroking her while he plied her with his tongue as well. Her hips bucked and her eyes popped open as he curled his fingers up and sucked on her most sensitive spot simultaneously. She couldn't stop the desperate sounds that tore from her throat as he continued to do the most incredible things to her; she had thought he was a spectacularly good kisser, but that didn't hold a candle to what he could do with that mouth of his elsewhere in combination with strong and agile fingers.

He teased her to the very brink, where she had just begun to feel her nerves ready to fire, then suddenly he was gone. "Not yet." His voice was husky with want as he kissed her. She mewled in protest of the loss, aware that he looked like the cat that ate the canary.

Her arm gestured vaguely. "Protection. Need you."

He laughed as he leaned over her to pull out a condom from his nightstand. "I told you I would make it worth your while, didn't I?" He was entirely too self-satisfied for his own good, and Kate knew her inflation of his ego had just about made his head explode. Right now though, she needed to feel him and if he didn't shut up and get on with it, she was going to go get her gun, naked and turned on as all hell or not.

"Castle I swear—" she growled. "Oh!" While she was plotting, he had rolled the condom on and positioned himself right at her entrance, pressing against her. He brushed damp strands of hair off of her face and neck, holding her head as he descended to devour her mouth. This time though, the kiss was leisurely, communicating those things which they had yet to vocalize. He pulled away and their eyes locked as he pushed into her ever-so-slowly, every inch stretching her in the most delicious way until they were completely joined.

Heat. Wet, velvet heat. It sounded like the makings of a completely inappropriate new book title whose intrusion into Rick's brain at this point in time was beyond what 'inappropriate' could describe. But, it was spot on in its imagery. He established a steady rhythm that quickly had them both panting and moaning, the intensity of the sensations almost overwhelming after how much they had lit each other up with the foreplay.

She wasn't passive, and he hadn't expected anything different from the strong, self-assured, passionate woman he saw each day. Her sinfully long legs wrapped around him as she met each of his thrusts with a wicked twist of her hips that pulled him as deep into her as possible. Her hands never stilled, touching any part of him she could reach and driving him crazy with merely a brush of her fingers or a scrape of her nails. She kissed him hungrily one second, fighting him for dominance, and softly in the next, gently coaxing his tongue out to play.

She encouraged his head down to her breasts and Rick kissed his way across the outer swell of one as he caressed the other, before taking her nipple into his mouth and sucking gently. He blew a breath across it then flicked it with his tongue in time with the motion of their lovemaking, eliciting a low groan. He moved his attention to the other as he continued to roll the first between his thumb and forefinger. Before long, Kate was writhing underneath him. Chest heaving under his lips, he felt her moan as it traveled upwards to her throat. He placed a kiss to her sternum as it broke through, a soft sound near a whimper. The smile she could feel against her skin earned him a tug on his hair, which he answered with a gentle bite to the side of her breast. She hissed at the sensation, mouth falling open.

As she felt her release coiling within her, she began to nip at him; lightly at first, then taking his collarbone between her teeth as he found a particularly good angle. She dropped her head and her soft pleas for 'more' were interspersed with his sounds of pleasure, filling the room. Fingers clenched in his hair and drew him towards her mouth, kissing him fiercely so he was swallowing her vocalizations as her body began to jerk. His hand trailed down to her center and he pulled his face away to whisper in her ear.

"I want to hear you, Kate. Come for me, please."

His hoarse request was all it took. She felt white-hot tongues of flame lick all the way to the tips of her fingers and toes, which curled involuntarily in their wake, starting a chain reaction of motion she stood no chance to control. The guttural cry of his name that tore from her throat was quite possibly the most erotic he had ever heard, and it took all of his willpower not to come from that sound alone. Her spine arched almost violently before he could even apply more than a gentle touch to her core, thrusting her body into his chest. As he watched her head fall back, mouth open in pleasure while her face reflected everything she was feeling, he was lost in her primal beauty.

As the orgasm continued to rush through her body, he could feel the clenching of her muscles all around him; her thighs bracketed his hips in a vice-like grip, no less strong than the one rippling within her that caused his vision to cloud. Her mouth clamped on his shoulder and the tips of her fingers pressed into his scalp as the last shivers coursed through her. Rick panted hard above her, not moving.

She ran her fingers through his hair, before trailing them slowly down his back to cup the glorious ass that she had admired for so long. One squeeze and the gentle bite of her fingernails caused him to jump slightly, so she upped the ante. A stronger squeeze and an echoing one from her inner muscles had one hand give way so he was resting on that elbow. She felt his breath whoosh out against her damp skin, lips following, and he pressed open mouthed kisses against her chest and neck. But, he was still far too stationary for her liking. She wanted him to move, and she wanted him to move _now_.

She hitched her legs farther around his waist, bringing their bodies flush. The feeling of his very male, very solid body against her was all-consuming. He filled her senses completely, surrounding her with his scent, his touch, his power. She felt impossibly turned on by it and secure in his presence as they moved together in a perfect exchange. She could feel the flex of his muscles over every part of her, sensing the moment when he began to lose control as his thrusts became more irregular. One of his large hands ran down the side of her body until it reached her hip, gripping the supple flesh.

Kate placed her mouth at his ear and bit down gently on the lobe before throatily breathing out a command. "Now, Rick. Come for _me_."

"Kaa_ate—" _He couldn't hold out any longer and with a final few thrusts, he collapsed forward. As he made to roll off and avoid crushing her, she tightened her hold and prevented him from doing so.

"That was amazing," Rick said in awe.

"You were trying to hold out on me." Kate said, a little breathless. Another slow, rolling orgasm had worked its way through her as Rick had found his own release. Satiated for the time being, she closed her eyes contentedly.

Rick's response was panted into her hair. "I wanted to see if I could get you there twice."

Smiling, she replied, "You kinda did."

"Really?" He raised his head slightly to look at her. "But I missed your face. Damn."

"My face?"

"Yeah. You know, _that_ face. It's uh…really hot." His post-orgasm flush deepened slightly.

"You were a little busy if I remember right." Laughing, she kissed his cheek.

Despite not wanting to move, he knew that he would be getting heavy. He rolled to the side to toss the condom in the trashcan near his bed. Mourning the loss of contact with her immediately, he pulled her to rest on his shoulder. "So, you're a biter, huh?"

"Yeah. Forgot to warn you about that. Sorry," she said, almost shyly.

"Oh believe me. It was a good surprise." He could feel his eyelids growing heavy and stifled a yawn in Kate's hair. She still felt it.

"Go to sleep Rick, we should probably rest before we try for round two."

"So there is going to be a round two?" Her head lifted so she could give him a trademark glare. "Just checking." He smiled as she rolled her eyes and settled back in. "I don't want to wake up and find this was all just a fantastic dream."

"No chance of that," Kate mumbled, sleep closing in on her too. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."

He pressed his lips to her forehead. "I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing." The last thing he felt was her cuddling closer into him, and he drifted off thinking that he had never really pegged Kate Beckett for an after-sex snuggler.

* * *

**_So…it has been quite a long time since I have written a sex scene, and it definitely was nothing quite like this. I will be anxiously awaiting reviews for it as a result, so please let me know what you think! (Too long, too smutty, not smutty enough, etc.)_**

**_I did break this up because as you can tell it was already getting long. All that (including a little more smut) will be in the next and final chapter, as I only expect there to be one more after this. I can't promise that it will be up before the season premiere in the States since school is beginning to pick up for me and I have a medical emergency in the family that I will be tending to, but I will see what I can do._**

**_As always, I would love to hear your feedback!_**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note: For those of you who have been with me for this long, I sincerely thank you for your patience and your encouraging reviews. This story has been my solace through a very tough couple of months, and if you stick around to the end I will explain why I have been gone so long. All of you who have reviewed and added me to your lists have been a blessing, keeping me going. I promise in the future that all of my fics will be completed before I start posting so that this will never happen again; it is inexcusable in my mind. **

**Chapter notes: This is the final chapter. I'm a little nervous because parts of it went differently than I envisioned, and I hope I kept everyone involved reasonably in character. And yes, I did completely ignore most of the underlying issues in the Caskett relationship…that's the beauty of fanfiction. Maybe eventually I'll tackle the more realistic side of what I think will happen. For now though, I hope you enjoy and I hope the length of this chapter makes up for the wait! There is also more smut, FYI (Oh and for those of you who are currently seeing Season 4: How much are you loving it so far? Good lord, it just keeps getting better!) Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Kate woke slowly, aware that her shoulder was quite cool but that her back was pressed up against something that felt as hot as a furnace. She blinked her eyes open and realized the room around her was still dark and held the chill of a winter morning, making the blankets and her sleeping partner a very good reason to not leave the bed just yet. She tugged the covers up and shifted slightly backwards, causing Rick to make a soft noise in his sleep as he pulled her more tightly against him, sighing happily. Kate closed her eyes again with a content smile.

* * *

"Castlestopmoving" The man in question froze, mistakenly believing he was being careful enough to extricate himself without waking Kate. He kissed her bare shoulder with a smile, making a more concerted effort to get out of the bed.

"Sorry. I really have to pee."

"Mmm. Well hurry up then, s'early." It was still barely light outside from what she could tell, but she blinked several times to adjust her eyes. As Rick left the bed she rolled over to watch him in the dim light, appreciating the fact that he had chosen to leave the blankets behind with her. She cocked her head as she got a good long look at his ass and—she noted with delight—damned impressive thighs, something she hadn't gotten to do the night before. After a minute she heard the water from the bathroom sink running and Rick re-emerged, stopping short when he noticed her intense gaze.

It was his turn to stare—at the sheet draped artfully along her slender body, the slightly disheveled hair, and the bright gleam of her eyes as she half reclined in what he could only describe as a casually seductive pose. Her lips curled in a mischievous smile and her eyes flicked down his body before returning to his face. The dark orbs were alight and he looked down, noticing the reason; apparently it wasn't just his brain appreciating the sight before him.

Kate pulled the covers away on his side and he gratefully hopped back into the beckoning warmth beside her. He pressed her into the mattress but kissed her gently, simply exploring her mouth with a series of barely-there touches of his lips and tongue. "Good morning," he rumbled against her lips. She smiled and sucked his lower lip into her mouth, holding it gently between her teeth before releasing it.

"Good morning to you." Her hand had snuck its way towards his member and surprised a grunt out of him as she curled her fingers around it, stroking him to full hardness. He ran his hand through her hair and cradled the back of her head before pulling back to look into her now emerald eyes.

"You're stunning."

She smiled in response. "You're not so bad yourself." Their lips met again as she leaned upwards.

He couldn't contain his smile and Kate pulled away when she felt it.

"What?"

"You think I'm handsome." His knowing grin made her roll her eyes. She grinned back nonetheless, kissing him again, softly. She rolled them over and traced her fingers over his erection gently before raising herself onto one arm and linking the fingers of her other hand with one of his own, resting them together over his heart.

"Yeah, I guess I do." A volume of what remained unsaid was briefly open for him in the depths of her eyes. Rick grew serious as he took it all in, and as he gazed up at her he allowed his eyes to reflect it all right back with a gentle smile. He cradled the side of her face in his hand, and without breaking eye contact, she turned to place a lingering kiss to his palm.

The moment passed and in a blink, her playful mood was back as she darted her tongue out to lick him before nipping quickly at his skin as well. Rick laughed softly in response, amazed that the air around them could go from sexually charged to heavy with emotion and back again without missing a beat. It wasn't unlike their day-to-day banter before they were even together, though admittedly without the satisfaction of getting to act on the sexual part.

A leg was quickly thrown over him, his smile wiped away into a helpless sound as Kate laughed and rolled her hips. She raised herself up on his lap watching his jaw clench and his eyes squeeze shut as she did. Teasing him was fun, but as she felt him throbbing against her, she decided that now was not the time. Reaching back, she rolled a condom on—when she got it Rick didn't know, nor did he frankly care at that point—grasped him and guided herself to hover just above his tip until he opened his eyes again and looked at her. Her mouth opened in a silent gasp as she eased herself down his shaft until she was fully seated against him, the pleasant ache of being filled after just a few hours of recovery causing a full-body quiver as the pleasure shot through her belly. Giving herself a moment to adjust, she leaned back and braced her hands on his quads, rolling her hips and setting a torturously slow pace.

Rick strained his neck to watch her, taking in the flex of her powerful thighs as she raised herself almost completely off of him and sank back down in a controlled rhythm that was driving him crazy. Her body was on display in all its naked glory before him and he didn't resist the urge to reach out and touch her. He ran his hand from her neck, between her breasts, down her toned stomach to thumb the skin below her navel. Her abdominal muscles shuddered in response, and he repeated the motion several times until her hips bucked, a groan escaping her open mouth as they did. His hand continued its downward path, reaching the place where their bodies were joined. Her thighs tightened and her pace became slightly erratic once his thumb made contact with her clit, rubbing in slow circles that made her back arch.

He sat up suddenly against the headboard, cradling her with his arms around her back. "_Shit,_" the surprised exclamation from Kate was somewhere between an oath and a prayer as the new angle made her pant heavily in Rick's ear, and he was exceedingly pleased that he had gotten her to swear. He groaned loudly against the sheen of sweat on her breasts as she rocked against him, kissing along the swell of one until he reached her nipple, enveloping it in his hot mouth and teasing it until she was gasping for air. His stubble left her skin slightly reddened but she hissed and grasped his head when he tried to pull back, so he returned his attention to the silky skin.

He shifted until he had enough leverage to thrust up into her, starting slowly and gradually increasing his speed until he felt her muscles tighten before backing off again. When her whimpers became almost a constant stream and her fists clenched rhythmically around his biceps he ceased his motion completely, which garnered a desperate, frustrated cry from her throat. She clenched around him and rolled her hips before he gripped them tightly, holding her still.

"Shit, Kate, stop moving for a sec," he said when she tried to press down on him. Their labored breathing was loud in the room as they both fought to regain their shattered control.

She scraped her nails across his back then bent to tongue a nipple. Her hands were back on his head and she sealed their mouths together, pouring all of her need into the kiss. "Rick, please. I'm so close…so close," her lips traced the shell of his ear as she whispered and much as he wanted to prolong the experience he couldn't deny her request. He held her flush against him as he slid farther down the bed, thrusting slowly. Her face was buried in his neck, nuzzling under his jaw, her lips at his pulse point. She sucked and licked at the sensitive flesh, then grazed it with her teeth repeatedly before sucking hard once more.

_She was marking him._ When the thought registered in his brain he nearly growled with the force of his arousal and his hips slammed upwards. Kate choked on her breath. "Oh, God yes, just like that."

"Do you like it rough, Kate?" Rick teased between breaths.

"So-oh-sometimes I do—ah!" The pitch of her voice rose as he thrust again. "And if you do it right, I really like it."

With a challenge like that before him, Rick drove himself into her hard and fast, spurred on by the steady stream of encouragement she was pouring in his ear. "Rick!" his name was a desperate wail on her lips and then she was coming; a hot flush spread over her skin, her back bowed under the force of her orgasm and she let out a loud, inarticulate cry into Rick's shoulder. With another deep thrust and her walls fluttering around him, his release shot through him like an electric shock and he fell over the edge with her; his world narrowed to just him and her in that moment and the pleasure pulsing through him, magnified by every square inch of skin where they were in contact. His shout of completion was muffled only slightly by her dark curls, one of his hands tangled at the back of her head in the cherry-scented strands.

Before they could adequately catch their breath, he angled her head towards him to claim her lips in a searing kiss to which she responded eagerly. When he captured her lower lip in his mouth and sucked it between his own teeth her whole body shivered and she moaned low in her throat. He released her with a final nip to the already swollen flesh.

"Wow." The wonder in his voice made her chuckle.

"For a writer, I was expecting a far more loquacious review of that rather inspirational performance." The fact that she was even coherent surprised her as her body continued to tingle in the aftermath.

He swore colorfully. "You just used the word 'loquacious' after mind-blowing sex. You are _so_ sexy." She actually let out a giggle and he pressed his lips to her temple. "I didn't think it could get more extraordinary."

She hummed and looked up at him from under her lashes. "Wait until you see what I do with whipped cream," she purred.

Rick swallowed, hard. "You're going to be the death of me." Her laughter rang through the room, free and light. Rick couldn't help but join in as she shook above him, loving the sound. He turned with her as she slid off of him and her laughter subsided. Not wanting to lose their physical contact, he pulled her in to his side so her head was on his shoulder, while she decided to curl a leg around his own and cuddled in closer. They sighed contentedly in unison.

"How did you do that?" Rick asked after a few minutes spent trying to get his heart rate back to normal.

"Do what?" she mumbled before turning to look at him.

"Get the condom. I don't remember that."

"I'm just that good." She replied with a smirk. He mock glared at her, but huffed out a laugh at the truth of the statement.

"So I'm hoping I'm going to have to stockpile these things?"

Her throaty laugh went straight to his groin. "Hmm, might be a good idea. I'm on the pill but always careful."

"Understood. I have been for the past seventeen years."

They simply looked at each other, and she understood what he wasn't saying. She knew Alexis was his life, but now she also knew that being blessed with her was maybe not in his and Meredith's plans. He tightened his arm around her when she simply acknowledged what he said with a smile.

Stretching, he snagged a bit of deep blue satin and lace peeking out from the tangled covers which turned out to be her bra, and dangled it in front of her face. "By the way: Is _this_what you wear to work?" Clearly curious, he stared at the Victoria's Secret-style purchase that in his best dreams he hoped fervently that she would wear—and that he would promptly divest her of. He regretted not paying more attention the night before while she was still wearing it, but seeing her in it would have had him drooling and that was probably a turn-off. The matching underwear caught his eye, laying on the floor a couple of feet away from the bed, and he realized that they were just a tad too skimpy to cover her entire derriere.

"Mmhmm," she responded coyly.

"All the time?" his voice was an embarrassing squeak and he cleared his throat.

She shrugged. "No, just depends on what I feel like in the morning. It's fun to know you're wearing something sexy when nobody else does." Her finger traced a pattern idly across his chest.

"Except for me, now."

"Except for you." He whimpered. "What's wrong Rick?" She teased, running a fingernail down his sternum.

"This is going to make focusing really hard."

She rolled her eyes. "As if it isn't for you already? Don't worry, I'll make sure you're paying attention."

"How? Not that I'm doubting you of course, but it's going to be really hard to not imagine what you are wearing under the no-nonsense wardorbe now."

"If you look at me like you are undressing me with your eyes, I will make you pay." Her tone didn't just imply bodily harm, it promised it. He nodded solemnly and made a great show of tucking the garment under his pillow and locking his lips with an imaginary key. His antics earned another soft laugh from the woman in his arms.

After a moment, she spoke up. "Since we're on the subject of mysteries: I still want to know how you found out about where I am ticklish."

"A magician never reveals his secrets," he replied loftily.

"You went to Lanie, didn't you?" It was really less of a question than a statement.

"Yes, I did." Well, there was no use lying. Lanie could kill him later; the payoff now was more than worth it. "Where _is_ your weirdest ticklish spot? 'Cause all Lanie gave me is the one on your neck; that's pretty innocent."

"Wouldn't you like to know? You should know better than to think I'll make it so easy on you and hand it over like that. Honestly, Castle," she scoffed.

"Oh, so it's 'Castle' again, is it?" A playful gleam was in his eyes and Kate's own widened in response when she caught it. She tried to execute a quick roll to escape off the bed, but the solid muscles of his forearms locked around her and hauled her back. She twisted her upper body in an almost cat-like way, momentarily surprising him. As her fingers made contact with the sensitive skin of his ribs he squeaked and squirmed from the touch before redoubling his efforts. He caught her hand and pinned it to her stomach, before following suit with the other. Kate continued to writhe while laughing at the absurdity of the situation. Finally, Rick used the advantage of his sheer size and a fancy moved that found Kate surprised and staring up into his grinning, panting expression of triumph.

Arms still pinned to her stomach and legs trapped between Rick's own, she could only voice a wordless protest before she dissolved into peals of laughter as he blew a raspberry against her side. She tried desperately to get away from the sensation, but her progress was made especially difficult due to the almost paralytic effect of being tickled and laughing so hard she couldn't draw a decent breath if she wanted to.

Apparently satisfied, Rick sat back and allowed her a few moments of recovery, but never fully loosened his hold. He began to scan her body with his eyes, trying to spot places he hadn't yet touched. It was difficult to maintain focus with a naked Kate Beckett below him, but he was doing his best. For her part, Kate tried to distract him as best she could. Every sultry look and blatantly sexual sound or movement went unnoticed, and she pouted playfully.

He ignored that, too.

She thought she had finally succeeded when he removed one of his hands from her wrists and placed gentle fingers at the back of her neck. Oh, how wrong she was. He slowly worked his way down her neck, to her collarbone and ribs alternating with light touches and squeezes as he went, all the while watching her face for a tell, studying her with the same intensity that she had found unsettling in the beginning of their partnership. He ghosted over her sides with a grin, already knowing about that particular trigger, before crossing the flat expanse of her stomach and testing there.

No response. Rick knew Kate had a great poker face, but he noticed that she wasn't smiling quite as convincingly as his hand continued towards a point just below the jut of her hipbone. He tested it and didn't get a reaction, so he moved his hand outwards. He felt the minuscule relaxation in her muscles as he did and stopped. Kate froze and he looked up at her with a wolfish smile, hand slowly edging inwards. She tried to affect a bored expression, but it became far less convincing when she drew her lower lip between her teeth and her muscles tightened of their own volition in preparation for what was coming. "Am I close, Kate?" He didn't even bother to hide the smile in his voice.

"No." She gritted out. Her jaw was clenched so tightly he was afraid he would hear a crack at any moment.

"Are you sure?" His thumb brushed in circles over the juncture where her thigh met the lowest of her abdominal muscles. The skin under it was silky and warm, and the proximity of her most intimate place intoxicated him with its scent. Her body was strung tight like a bow as she shook her head in defiance. He put a little more pressure into his strokes before pressing down with his thumb and she lost the last of her iron control, letting out a yelp that dissolved into a fit of giggles.

She finally begged him to stop so she could regain her breath and to stop the onslaught of sensations her body was experiencing. The area he had found was extremely ticklish, but it also had the effect of stimulating her nerves in an entirely pleasant way. Rick had begun laughing with her and as he cleared the tears of mirth from his eyes, he noticed her flushed face but also marked that her eyes had darkened into a deep shade of hazel. He brushed his fingers across the area again with an entirely different goal in mind, and was rewarded with a hitch of her breath followed by a lengthy sigh.

They didn't move from the bed again for a long time.

* * *

Alexis turned her key in the front lock to admit herself and Martha into the loft. It was still quiet, and she smiled fondly to think her dad had probably stayed up late writing due to sudden inspiration and was sleeping it off. As she headed into the kitchen, however, she spotted two partially full wineglasses on the counter, one of which held a trace of lip gloss.

As she stood there with a bigger grin realizing Beckett must have been there, she could hear her grandmother bypass the kitchen island behind her, heading towards the living room. "You'd think I raised him in a barn." Alexis followed, wondering what she could have meant when she spotted clothes sitting on the arm of the sofa. Belatedly, she realized there were two distinct piles and she looked to the floor where she noticed a pair of familiar boots that she had complimented Beckett on once before sitting next to her dad's shoes.

Eyes wide, the implication sunk in. "Gram, wait!" Alexis' voice was hushed as she hurried forward to prevent her from picking up the pile.

"What on Earth…?" Too late, Alexis reached the couch as her grandmother apparently realized that a decidedly feminine sweater and top were under her hands.

* * *

In the other room Kate was dozing, contentedly half-sprawled across Rick's naked form. A sound reached her ears, and she thought she felt a shift in pressure in the air. Prepared to ignore it, she curled a leg farther around Rick's own, but before she could even resettle she quite clearly heard footsteps and hushed voices. Immediately awake, she bolted upright and listened hard.

"Rick!" she whispered sharply. He grumbled and she smacked his arm. "Rick wake up!" Rubbing his eyes and looking up at her blearily, he noticed her alarm after a moment and sat up as well.

"What is it?"

"Someone's here." She scrambled from the bed, able to quickly find Rick's dress shirt and her underwear but no other clothing. Rick wasted no time and hurried to his dresser, tossing her an extra pair of pajama pants which she pulled on as he did the same, shrugging into a faded Green Lantern t-shirt as well.

Next he turned to his closet and emerged with two of his laser tag guns, passing one to Kate. "Here, take this."

"Castle, this isn't real."

"Well your real one isn't in here, and at least it will make whoever it is think twice." He placed his hand on the handle of the bedroom door, waiting until she nodded her readiness. He opened it swiftly and she moved into the den, clearing the room as if they were after a suspect, Rick right behind her. She took up a position at one side of the den's open door, Rick taking the other side. He peered through the bookcase, spotting a flash of red crossing the room on the other side.

He sighed in relief. "It's Alexis and Mother. They're back early," he whispered

Horrified, Kate turned wide eyes on him. "My overnight bag is in the living room along with half of our clothing." Rick's expression changed to dismay at the thought of how the two women reacted to the discovery.

He didn't have much time to dwell on that. "Alexis, let me go knock and tell your father we're home, I'm sure he would rather not scar you for life."

"No, Grams, it's okay—" Martha swept into the den and Rick yelped in surprise, pointing the laser gun at her.

"Richard, good Lord! What do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

"We thought you were intruders. Which isn't entirely untrue in your case." He gave her a pointed look.

"Oh, very funny dear." She waved him off. "We? Alexis and I thought you might have company." She teased, looking towards his bedroom. "Where is the young lady?" Alexis came bursting in before he could answer.

"Dad I'm sorry, I tried to—oh hi, Detective Beckett." Three pairs of blue eyes were suddenly on Kate and her amusement at the scene quickly vanished. She could feel her face heating slightly as she clutched the gun to her chest.

"Hi, Alexis, Martha." The expression on Alexis' face was mostly surprised but otherwise unreadable. Martha's was knowing and obscenely pleased.

"Well hello, dear! I see that Richard has apparently been keeping things from me." She turned a sharp gaze on him. "_Just_ me."

"Oh, I just guessed." Alexis spoke up, attempting to take the heat off of her dad. Martha leveled a finger at her.

"I'll get to you later. Honestly, keeping secrets from your grandmother—especially when it comes to your father—did I not teach you anything?" The other three occupants in the room fought back smiles at the dramatically hurt tone she affected.

"Why are you two home so early?" Rick redirected the conversation as he drew Alexis into a hug, kissing her forehead.

"Bad weather. We were getting stormed out of all the things we were supposed to get to do so the teacher decided to let everyone get home before it got worse. I think it's actually supposed to come this way in the next few days." Alexis answered from the vicinity of Rick's chest, and Kate smiled fondly at the picture they made. It didn't go unnoticed by Martha and when she accidentally caught the woman's eye, she received a wink that made her face heat once again.

"We were hoping to get back early enough to talk you into treating us to breakfast, but that was before I knew you were otherwise engaged." Martha smirked and Rick covered his face with his hand, grumbling.

A sudden, awkward silence filled the room until Alexis finally spoke up again. "Well I'm going to go unpack." Alexis met Kate's eyes briefly, offering a small smile that Kate returned uncertainly with the feeling that the girl was not nearly as okay with the situation as she had been a couple of nights ago. She kissed her dad's cheek then quickly left the room, his curious gaze following her.

"Alexis?" Rick called. Martha reached out to touch his arm, tilting her head in the girl's direction.

"I think you may want to talk to her, dear." Rick looked at Kate over his mother's shoulder, clearly concerned for his daughter, but asking her silently if she would be alright.

"Go, Rick. She's probably a bit overwhelmed right now. This didn't exactly go as planned." Her rueful smile earned one in return.

Rick set his gun down and kissed his mother's cheek on his way out, but surprised Kate by turning around at the door and kissing her sweetly on the mouth. Her stunned look quickly became one of chastisement as they held a silent conversation about that kind of behavior occurring in front of his mother. He grinned unashamedly before hurrying across the loft to the stairs.

She turned to face the woman who had a look of poorly disguised triumph on her face as she swept a graceful hand towards two of the plush armchairs in front of Rick's desk. Kate set the laser gun down on it and tucked herself into one. Hyper aware of the fact that she was going to be interrogated by the mother of the man whose clothes she was currently wearing, she tugged at the shirt self-consciously, making sure she was appropriately covered. The thought crossed her mind that her own were practically on display on the couch, but at least the ones they had left behind last night weren't the most intimate—those were just strewn around his bedroom.

Martha ignored her state of dress, for which Kate would be eternally grateful, and leaned in conspiratorially. "So…how long has this been going on?"

"We've been together for a few days. Umm…Martha I—It wasn't supposed to go quite this way and I know it's a bit…unexpected." Kate stopped, unsure.

"That's an understatement." Kate flushed at that and Martha simply smiled. "You're both adults and we all know I'm certainly not one to judge. It's the morning after and suddenly reality just came storming back in." Martha waved her hand to indicate herself and the youngest Castle across the loft. There was a long pause as she assessed the younger woman, who appeared overwhelmed and ready to bolt at any moment.

"This isn't just a fling either, I'm not a one-night stand type of person." The need to justify herself was threatening to make her start babbling, but Martha leaned forward and caught her eye with an understanding look.

"I know that dear, believe me I would have never thought that of you. You're a smart, tough woman who has kept my son on his toes for three years and you aren't one to be won over easily." Some measure of reassurance allowed Kate's mouth to become less of a tight line, but the worry was still there. So, Martha was prepared to impart some wisdom. "I'm going to ask you something: Has Richard told you about his marriages?"

Kate blinked, surprised by the question. "Occasionally he brings them up, but I don't really know very much."

"Neither ended as a direct result of something he did. I'll let him tell you all of it when he is ready, but I think you should know something."

Kate nodded, signaling she was ready to listen.

"Meredith was a passing fancy. I don't doubt that he loved her and Gina, in a way. Richard didn't think things through with Meredith because he rarely thought anything through at that time in his life. Alexis wasn't exactly planned, but when she came along—oh how he changed. He grew up, and accepted the role and responsibility of being a father like he was born for the task." Kate pulled a leg up to rest her chin on her knee with a small smile, listening intently. "That woman on the other hand was not meant to be a mother. Air-brained, shallow, flighty; not a good combination. At heart she may be a good person, but I will never really forgive her for what she did."

"What did she do?" Her brow furrowed in confusion.

"She cheated on him. I know he is a grown man, but he is still my son." A fire had kindled in Martha's eyes and Kate sat motionless, eyes wide with shock.

"He never told me."

"I'm not surprised, dear. Much as he seems to let things roll off his back, he was hurt by it. I think by not telling you, he felt he could hide the shame from one of the people whose opinion he cares the most about."

"Why did he keep in touch with her then? Why every time she was in town did they...well..."

"Don't worry: I am well aware of what they did." She wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Despite what she had done to him, he knew what the short-term payoff was for sleeping with her. And he didn't seem to respect himself enough to stop. The more he got to know you though, the more he behaved like an adult, and he would leave here like he was going to a real job every day. He took you seriously. Sure, he played with you and probably drove you crazy. But you listened, you began to trust him, and because of that he saw his own worth."

Kate swallowed nervously. "I really don't think I'm responsible for that."

"I do." Kate looked away, but knew better than to argue. She spoke slowly, carefully considering her next words.

"Your son is a good man, and I have you to thank for that. If I have done half of what you say for him, then he has done the same for me. Before I met him I rarely let anyone in—but he became part of my life in a way that took me by surprise."

"And being a part of your life is something he is more grateful for than he could ever express. Oh, and thank Alexis for raising him right once you see her," she joked and reached out to place a hand on Kate's knee. Once Kate met her eyes she continued in a more serious tone.

"He has shown you the sides of him that no other woman has truly seen; Kate my dear, you are it for him. Don't doubt that. But be careful—I do think you're the only one who could well and truly break his heart." She patted her knee and smiled before gliding away as quickly as she had entered. Kate remained in the chair, dumbfounded and replaying the conversation in her mind, Martha's last sentence ringing in her ears.

"That could go both ways". Her whisper went unheard in the suddenly empty room.

* * *

Meanwhile in the youngest Castle's bedroom, Rick watched his daughter pace in front of him. "I thought you were okay with this?"

"Well that was on the phone Dad, while I wasn't here. I wanted to talk to you when I got home; I thought we would have the chance for that." She didn't seem upset, mostly confused for which Rick was grateful.

"This has been a long time coming, sweetheart. It's not like she is going to be moving in with us any time soon, if that's what you're worried about."

"No, that's not it. I just—it's so fast. Are you sure about this?" She turned to face him, arms crossed over her chest.

"As sure as I've ever been about anything." Alexis was surprised by the conviction in his voice, but barely let it show; Rick was pleased that her poker face was one thing he could take credit for teaching her.

"And is Beckett?"

"She's very sure. She wouldn't have given this a shot if she wasn't. This is very serious for the both of us."

"You're my dad. My _only _dad. I don't want to see you get hurt." She shrugged and her mouth quirked, aware that she sounded more like a parent.

Rick smiled back, but it was fleeting. He wanted to know what was really bothering her. "I know there have been a few women over the years and that you have put up with all of them. You've put up with _me_ through all of them. What's different now?"

"You could get hurt."

"She and the guys protect me; they're the best at what they do."

"It's not that, though that scares me too. I'm worried about what happens if this doesn't work out. I know how you feel about her, Dad, and I don't even know if you realize it yet."

"I can't be afraid to try."

She tilted her head thoughtfully at that and sat on her bed for a couple of minutes, the room silent save for the occasional rustle as they both shifted. Finally, she nodded and Rick released a heavy breath.

"Okay. Good answer, by the way." Her smile up at him held understanding and tenderness, though her eyes were still hiding something.

"That's not all that's bugging you is it? Alexis, please tell me." He frowned.

She stayed quiet, absently picking at her bedspread.

"I know it's a little ways off still, but I'll be leaving for college and…I hope that even though you'll be spending a lot more time with Beckett now, I can still have time with you before I have to go." Her voice was small and unsure, like the five year old he had cradled in his lap after one of the few times she had ever gotten in trouble. Rick sat next to her and wrapped her in his arms as he had done back then to hide the tears that sprang to his eyes at the thought.

"You're my girl, and you'll always be my girl—nothing will ever change that, Alexis. You should know that I will do my absolute best to monopolize your time until you're sick of father/daughter bonding," he joked, drawing out a smile from her.

"I'll never get sick of it. If you try and lock me up like Rapunzel though, I will find a way to escape." His heart nearly burst with joy at her certainty.

"Kate adores you, and she would never come between us."

"I know that, Dad. It's just hard to not be the only woman in your life. At least I know someone will be here to keep you out of trouble, I guess." Rick pressed his lips to her temple as he held her to his side.

"You know, sometimes I forget that you're not an adult yet. Sometimes I look at you and I still see my baby girl, then I turn around and you're a beautiful young woman. But the point is that you are a teenage girl, _my_ teenage girl, and it wasn't right for me to forget that. It's not fair to you to spring a very adult situation on you with no warning."

"It's alright. I'm young; I'll bounce back from the trauma after some therapy." When his head whipped forward to look at her, she couldn't help the teasing grin on her face. "You're such an easy mark, Dad! Between me and now Beckett, I'm amazed you've managed to survive this long."

He made an indignant sound but couldn't get out a response before Alexis sat up and looked at him with wide eyes."Oh gosh, she must think I'm mad or that I don't want her here! I do, and I wanted her to get a proper Castle welcome from me and Grams."

"She understands, but if you want to talk to her I think that would be great. She's almost certainly getting grilled by your grandmother now, and I should really go save her." His mouth quirked and he raised his eyebrows, sharing a knowing look with Alexis.

"That's true…it is Grams after all, and I don't think even the great Detective Beckett can hold out forever." She grinned. "I do want to talk, but Kelsey texted me and said that she's only around for the morning to work on our project for class. Maybe when I get back? I shouldn't be gone too long."

"I'm sure that would be fine." He smiled fondly.

"Will you ask her to stay for dinner, Dad? We can celebrate that way. I just freaked out for a minute like she probably did. I'm actually really excited about this." It showed, as her face lit up a little at the prospect of having Kate around. "I like her, Dad. A lot. And it would be cool to get to spend time with her." She hastily began to correct herself. "If she wants to, I mean—I don't want her to feel like she has to and I know she is busy…"

Rick halted the rest of her rambling by pulling her back into a hug and kissing the top of her head. "I can't speak for her, but I really do think she would like that, pumpkin. I know I would." She squeezed him back.

"I'm glad she makes you happy," she whispered.

"She does." He smiled.

They let go after a moment and Alexis grabbed her purse to head downstairs. Rick followed, watching the flaming red hair bounce down the steps and to the door as he had so many times. She stopped with her hand on the doorknob and quickly spun to face him. He faltered at her suddenly stern look, puzzled.

"You finally got it right, Dad, so don't do anything dumb. You'd better make her happy too." Rick gaped like a fish for a moment while she scolded him, before he noticed the gleam in her blue eyes.

"Hey!"

Her look morphed into a full-blown grin and she waved adding, "Just throwing it out there!" as she quickly left the loft. Rick shook his head before turning towards the den.

Martha breezed out as he neared the kitchen. "How's Alexis?"

"Fine, she's going over to Kelsey's. Mother—" His voice held a warning note but she waved him off, walking to the stairs.

"First: you're welcome. Second: go talk to that woman. Honestly, Richard, I thought all those best-sellers meant you knew your way around a conversation, not just a keyboard." She didn't even look back at him as she rounded the corner towards her bedroom.

Rick continued into the study, talking as he entered and moving to pull the door closed behind him. "Alexis wants you to know she's not upset at all, just surprised. She's gone over to a friends' house to work on a project, but she would like it if you stayed to have dinner with us tonight because she wants to give you a true Castle welcome if you're up for it." He turned with a smile, but it fell from his face when he saw Kate curled up in her chair, brow furrowed as she stared pensively at the carpet.

"Are you alright? What happened?"

She glanced at him. "I just had a very...interesting... conversation."

"Ugh. Mother. What deep, dark secrets did she reveal?" He dreaded the answer as he lowered himself into the chair recently vacated by the woman in question.

"She told me about your ex wives. Or Meredith, specifically."

"Oh." It was obvious he hadn't expected that.

"Rick...why didn't you tell me?"

"I have two failed marriages Kate. Those are not proud moments in my life. I wasn't sure what you thought and I didn't know how to bring it up."

"They weren't your fault."

"You didn't know that until now. It's an awful lot of baggage to be faced with. I wanted you to feel like it was safe to be with me. Not be worried that history would repeat itself and that 'wife number three' was some kind of stigma."

"Hey. In case you didn't notice, I have some baggage of my own. It didn't scare you off, so what makes you think it would scare me?"

"I was afraid that I couldn't prove how important this is to me." He stared at his hands before shyly meeting her eyes.

After a brief pause, Kate spoke again. "You've thought about 'wife number three?'" Her voice was quiet and she worked her jaw nervously, not quite meeting his eyes. He reached out and took her hand, relieved that she didn't pull away, and waited patiently until she finally looked up at him.

His look told her everything and she exhaled a shaky breath, running her other hand through her hair. She had certainly thought about it too, but the idea was still a formidable one that she hadn't allowed her mind to fully entertain, afraid of the power it could have over her. It wasn't like he was asking now though, was he?

This was all new to both of them, and they could cross that bridge if and when they ever arrived at it.

"We clearly have a lot to talk about." Her eyes said the rest: she wasn't going to run from this.

"Yes we do." Apparently, neither was he.

"A lot to work through together."

"That's to be expected."

"And...?" She raised an expectant eyebrow, surprised that he was being unusually calm about the whole situation.

"We'll figure it all out. There's a lot to be learned here, on both sides, because you are still a mystery to me." She ducked to hide the smile brought on by the wonder in his voice.

"That's as it should be," her teasing grin finally made an appearance when she looked up and he grinned back.

"I did figure out the sense of humor early on though." His look was suddenly sincere and intense, and it made her heart flutter a little bit. "My point is: I want to learn Kate...and I don't think I'll want to stop."

The floor didn't drop out from under her chair and panic didn't immediately claw at her throat. He had thrown her off balance and the scary little word 'forever' was making itself a home in the back of her mind, but the butterflies in her stomach weren't being stirred up by fear alone. "Well, I've heard that you learn something new every day, and we've already been working at it for a while. Just be patient with me—don't ask me to pick out China patterns any time soon, okay?" Her voice held a little bit of a waver, the only outward sign that she was still nervous.

He chuckled. "Done." He kissed her forehead and pulled back to look at her again. "You'll probably have to be patient with me too—I never looked forward to doing something like that in the past, but now I can't wait to be given the chance." Lifting her hand, he kissed her fingers and they smiled stupidly at each other.

"So what do you say, Beckett? Will you let me?" It was the predecessor to another four word question that she now knew to expect from him—a question she was fairly certain had one inevitable answer.

"Someday, Castle. Someday."

* * *

**Author's note cont.: Well there it is! I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I enjoyed crafting it. I really miss getting to write like this, and it was such a treat every time I got to work on the story (though I hope I wasn't as rusty as I was feeling). Every new idea was exciting and I just couldn't wait to make it take shape! I do plan to return as soon as I can, but it being my senior year of college, the stolen moments where I have time sometimes get to be very few and far between. **

**On the more serious note: My uncle was admitted to the hospital for a stroke in the middle of September. He's only 46 years old. Fortunately the stroke was relatively mild (though he didn't go in right away which is dangerous) and was a warning of sorts, and after several weeks of rehab he is back to working part time with most of his physical capacity back most of the time, but you never stop recovering and it was definitely terrifying.  
At the beginning of October, my grandmother on the other side of my family had a stroke, but hers was categorized as severe or massive. The good thing was that my family and most of my aunt's family actually happened to be visiting when it happened and both the trauma nurse and day nurse we dealt with were amazing people, but it made for a very difficult weekend. She made great progress in just one day and was able to speak at least a little and recognize us, but she just couldn't get some words or names. Her right side is almost completely non-functional still more than a month later and it looks like she may have actually stopped making progress so the care facility she was in has sent her home. Some days are good, some days are very bad, and my mom and aunt are trying to do the work of an entire team of nurses to take care of her.**

**So that's where I have been, trying to keep up with my school work between the long drives to visit and emotional breakdowns. But I am thankful for every new day that both my uncle and my grandma are with us, and for the help from great friends and great television to hold me up. And truly to all of you for being an incredible and welcoming part of the **_**Castle**_** fan base that make me willing to share my work—if you could ask my friends you would know I can be intensely private and rarely want to share any of my stuff. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your words and for the talents you share as well, you are wonderful!**


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